When we are decorating our kitchen, attention should be given to kitchen lighting. There are various choices available in the form of recessed, decorative and accent lighting. The type of lighting you will select will depend on the size of the kitchen, its color combination, cabinet finish and the placement of doors and windows.

If you want to have hygienic and safe food, the kitchen lighting should be properly placed. In every kitchen, central pendant lighting gives a general lighting to the room. But you should also have high level of lighting near your worktop, fridge, and sink, cooker so that you have ample light to complete your task properly and see properly when you cook.

Nowadays most of the new modular kitchen have inbuilt light in it like the cooker hoods come with inbuilt lightings. You can also have a custom built cupboard with it. Without a central pendant light, you can put lights inside the ceiling, set it wide apart so that the light flows evenly on both the sides of the room.

All your work units should have fluorescent lights so that, these lights also spreads to your work surface. You can use accent lighting to cabinets, cookers or even art work. Down lights or wall lights, shelf lights can be used in the kitchen which increases the ambiance of your kitchen.

You can mix various types of kitchen lights and fixtures and create space; this can be achieved by layering. For example, near the sink and the space, you use task lighting whereas near the dinning area you arrange for pendant lighting.

Over you kitchen island also, you have to use pendant lighting so that it illuminates the whole area. Also if you have a kitchen window, let it remain open throughout the day so as to get ample sunlight in the kitchen.

Under cabinet lighting provides illumination to a gloomy area as well as the same light is reflected to the work surface which makes preparing food easier. Again if you have put decorative glassware in the cabinet, under cabinet lights also illuminates whatever you have places inside the cabinet.

You can fit a standard compact fluorescent light which are highly efficient and lasts longer under your cabinets. The general lighting that is mostly used in all kitchens is called ambient lighting. Also track lights are one such light which reflects lights all over the area.

I am a hardcore chocolate lover! In fact, whenever I think of dessert, I automatically think of chocolates, or at any rate, chocolate flavored stuff! Strawberries, mangoes or whipped cream? They’re not for me, if you don’t combine them with chocolate. Na uh! You can call me a chocolate-a-holic and look down on me for it, but God, does it feel good to give in to temptation!

I’ll bet you already have a mental picture of me! A really, really oversized woman who absolutely HATES shopping because she can never find anything her size! Well, it gives me great pleasure, to tell you that you’re wrong, and no, I’m not a health freak, who works out for two hours everyday! A perfectly normal, light cardio routine does just fine for me!

So what’s my secret? Innovation! Yep, I learnt the art of making absolutely delicious desserts, full of the intoxicating flavor of chocolate, which have a really low calorie count compared to their conventionally made counterparts! So you can be like me too, just follow this recipe and enjoy to your heart’s content!

Ingredients

Half and half (fat free)- 1/3rd cup
Eggs, large – 2
Low-fat margarine – 2/3rd cup
All-purpose white flour – 1/2 cup
Whole wheat flour – 1/2 cup
Chopped, unsweetened baking chocolate – 7 ounces
Splenda – 1/2 cup
Egg substitute – 1/2 cup
Granulated sugar – 1 and 1/2 cups
Walnut pieces – 1 cup
Vanilla extract – 1 and 1/2 teaspoons

Method

• Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. At the same time, lightly coat two 9-inch baking pans with canola oil and keep them aside.

• In a medium sized, nonstick saucepan, put the margarine and fat-free half and half. Melt the margarine, stirring all the while at medium-low heat. After all the margarine has melted, remove the pan from the flame.

• Stir in the chopped baking chocolate and make sure to mix well with the melted butter. Use a wooden spoon to do this and continue till all the chocolate has melted. Then put in the Splenda along with the sugar and mix well.

• Put the eggs in one at a time and stir vigorously after adding each of them. Follow up with the egg substitute and then put in the white flour and the whole-wheat flour. Add the walnuts and vanilla and stir well. Your batter is now ready.

• Pour this batter into the previously prepared baking pans and bake for about 20 minutes in the previously prepared oven. Remove from heat and cool before serving!

All this in just 130 calories per serving. Could you ask for more?

Ever thought of combining chicken and peanuts? No? Probably thought it would taste ghastly, right? Well, here’s an amazing Indonesian recipe to prove you wrong!

If you like a nice barbeque party, then why not try this exotically flavored recipe for your next one? This is sure to be a hit with the guests and what is more, it doesn’t even take much time to prepare!

I came across this recipe quite by chance, at a friend’s place. She’s of Indonesian origin and her mom is a fabulous cook. I was called over for dinner and I just couldn’t get enough of these “kebabs”! I asked for the recipe and here it is!

I was also advised to prepare a whole lot of these kebabs, whenever I decided to make the venture, since my friend’s mom says that she always runs out of these kebabs whenever she makes them! So my advice to you is, if you want to make these for four people, make sure you prepare enough for six!

Ingredients

Boneless and Skinless Chicken breasts: 1 pound
Satay Sauce – 1 Batch
Peeled and finely grated fresh ginger – 1 inch
Peeled and chopped Clove of garlic – 1
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp
Light Soy Sauce – 2 Dessert Spoons
Peeled and finely chopped Shallot or Onion – 10 g
Caster Sugar – 1 tsp.
Ground Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
Chili powder – ½ tsp

Method

1. Prepare the boneless and skinless chicken breasts by cutting them into cubes which are about an inch in size.

2. Put the garlic, shallot or onion, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, lemon juice and chili powder in an appropriately sized bowl and mix all the ingredients really well until it forms a homogenous mixture. This is the marinade.

3. Rub the previously prepared chicken cubes well with the marinade. Make sure all parts are coated well. Thereafter, cover the chicken pieces and refrigerate overnight. If that’s not possible, a minimum of two hours refrigeration is required.

4. Take out the chicken and thread it on to skewers.

5. Thereafter, heat an indoor grill, or you could go with an outdoor charcoal grill as well. Put the skewers on the grill and cook well.

6. Grill the pieces of meat for about five minutes on either side or until each side is brown.

Dig in to this exotically flavored kebab and taste heaven! I know I did and my family can never stop asking for more!

Countertops can be found in various forms, starting from a sleek stainless steel look, to colorful surfaces. Prices of the countertops also vary, depending on the texture, pattern, shape, color of the seems. Heavy counter tops, can be fixed to the kitchen with the help of fixatives, whereas others can be fixed with the help of screws.

The type of counter tops, you want to choose, will depend on its durability, maintenance, longevity and of course on your budget. Concrete counter tops have been found in the kitchen ever since the olden days. It is hardy and solid and it is porous in nature, so that it can absorb stains easily.

The only difficulty, is when you want to remove the countertop, you have to demolish the whole of it. Natural stones, like granites, need to be seemed to avoid stain and damage. Marble on the other hand is less stain resistant and porous. So any sort of acidic food can damage it easily.

Engineered stones are made by the mixture of quartz, rocks, and pebbles and so on. Although the look of the stone is the same as real stone, it is ore durable and it also has resistivity to heat. It serves the two fold purpose of using it as a work surface as well as eating.

It is more expensive that a stone but it has various color options. If you want a sleek, modern, unique look to your countertop, then you should go for stainless steel. It is easily maintained, rust proof and it is also stain resistant. Stainless steel countertops match well with wooden furniture and it also gives a shiny look to the kitchen.

Wooden countertops made of various types of woods like teak, mahogany, maple, cherry, gives a warm feeling to our kitchen. The only disadvantage of a wooden countertop is that you have to maintain it regularly with mineral oil treatments. Moreover placing extra hot cooking utensil on the wooden counter top is not very advisable.

The cheapest of all is the laminate countertop which is available in various colors and designs. Although it is cheap, it is neither durable, nor scratch free nor heat resistant. Ceramic tiles are another economical option, although you have to maintain it regularly to protect it from getting damaged from stains. Installing these tiles is also very difficult.

Are you or any member of your family suffering from blood pressure problems or diabetes? Chances are you’re probably saying a mental “yes” to that. Well, you do know that you’re supposed to go easy on the red meat don’t you! Yeah, no one likes doing it and lots of people simply don’t! But in doing so they don’t realize the tremendous stress they’re putting their body under!

White meat can be fun! In fact, healthy food can taste awesome! Don’t believe me? Try this colorful stir-fry and see for yourself!

Ingredients

Diced Eggplant (with skin) – 1 small
Skinless, boneless, chicken breasts – 1 pound
Coarsely chopped yellow onion – 1
Yellow Bell pepper, seeded and cut julienne -1
Red bell pepper (treated the same way) – 1
Green spring onions (1 sliced thinly and 2 chopped coarsely)– 3 (don’t throw away the green tips!)
Chicken stock -3/4 cup
Cloves of garlic – 2
Low-sodium soy sauce – 2 tbsp
Chopped, fresh mint – 2 tbsp
Chopped fresh basil – ¼ cup
Chopped and Peeled Ginger (preferable fresh) – 1 tbsp
Extra-virgin olive oil – 2 tbsp

Method

• Cut the breasts into strips which are about 2 inches long and ½ inch wide.

• Put the mint, basil, chopped green onions, ¼ cup stock, ginger and garlic into a food processor. Make a mince out of the mixture and then keep aside.

• Put one of the two tablespoons of oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and keep at medium-high temperature. Put in the bell peppers, egg plant and the yellow onion and sauté for about eight min, or until they just turn tender. After this, transfer the cooked veggies to a bowl.

• Thereafter, put in the remaining oil and heat at medium-high temperatures. Put in the herb mixture and stir for about a minute, thereafter add the soy sauce, along with the chicken and sauté till the chicken turns brown and opaque. Add the remaining stock and bring the entire thing to boil. Add the veggies and stir until they are fully heated (this generally takes about three min.). Garnish with the spring onion and serve up!

Your delicious stir fry is ready! This not only teases your taste buds, it’s also great for your system, being full of veggies and chicken! Try this healthy stir fry; you might just be surprised by how much you like it!