Czech Foods Recipes

Beer in a Can As we get older, somehow beer in a can becomes a dying fad. I posted several days ago about my success of making beer can chicken. What struck me as so odd about the preparation of this meal was my patterned behavior of always purchasing beer in bottle form or as a pint draft when dining out. The experience of purchasing beer in a can brought back memories of college parties and uber cheap brew. Canned Vegetables Hmm, speaking of canned foods. This leads me to other foods sold in canned form that seem unappetizing. I have always held more sway to purchasing my vegetables from the freezer section when fresh is unavailable. The last resort of veggies has always been the canned version of corn, green beans or mixed vegetables. Something about the appearance, texture and smell of opening up a can of vegetables that makes me want to bail out on eating veggies altogether. If you notice when opening up these canned surprises, the veggies maintain a soggy limp form which nothing ...

Another dreadfully hot weekend here in Chicago. The only good thing about this hot sunny weather is that I have not had to cut the grass for about three weeks now. Though there seem to always be other projects that take the place such as sanding and restaining our deck. We could not have asked for any worse weather to take on our desk restoration this past weekend. Needless to say between Friday and the end of Sunday we finished the deck, with only a few touch up areas here and there remaining. We are pleased with the results and look forward to spending more time out in the backyard (if we can only get the mosquitoes to take a hike). I did manage to finally squeeze in an opportunity to make a beer can chicken on Saturday. I have always wanted to try this after talking to friends and neighbors that swear by this cooking technique. The process is real simple. You preheat the grill until it gets really hot (like 400 - 500 degrees). If using propane or gas, turn of...

Hot weather has pretty much engulfed most of the country this week. The heat has put any oven related meals to the wayside until temperatures cool down to more reasonable levels. It seems unrealistic to even consider preparing roasts (svickova included!) when such oven use when run counterproductive to running the AC 24/7. Anyhow, the method of cooking in such extreme heat is simple, go with the salad movement. How much salad can one possibly eat during the week? Good question. Mix it up. Initial thought of salad includes working with such starters as mescalin greens, romaine, or leaf. I try and stay away from iceberg as it has zero nutritional value. Once the green foundation is laid down, the sky is the limit when one can add protein (meat, egg, or beans), cheese, and veggies. Keep the salads line moving throughout the week by having one of these every few days and topping with different proteins as well as different binders whether they are vinaigrettes or mayo based dressings. Skip...

On the Fourth of July we hosted a little backyard barbecue and offered up such offerings of balsamic and olive oil marinated chicken breasts, Italian sausage, sautéed peppers and onions and an assortment of cold salads. One of the salad offerings was a very healthy option insisted on by my wife. She insisted on a spinach strawberry salad. I turned my nose at first because it this item did not immediately sound as appetizing as my mind was focused on grilled meats, breads, fattening salads, appetizers and a few cold pilsners on the deck. To my surprise, the salad was a hit item and I found myself glad to have leftovers after the party was over. The spinach salad included sliced strawberries, chopped pecans, crumbled blue cheese, and some delicious raspberry vinaigrette from ALDI. The brand is actually called Grandessa Signature Raspberry Vinaigrette. I don’t typically do product reviews on this blog, but I felt this salad topper was worthy of mention for those dieters and salad eaters o...

I have taken a long hiatus from posting on here due to many distractions. One distraction was the family vacation to Disney during mid June. Note to self…….do not vacation in Orlando during the summer. I am from Chicago and was not accustomed to this severe humidity. I can only imagine the heat that prevails during the months of July and August. Perhaps next time I will plan this around the school break during the winter holidays. Nevertheless everyone had a good time and the kids hit all the traditional rides. I succumbed to the infamous mickey ice cream bar on more than one occasion courtesy of the snack allowance that was part of the Disney dining plan we signed up for prior to our visit. This was our first time using this prepaid meal plan and I would recommend it to anyone. The plan is so worth the money if traveling with a good size group and you are okay with eating at select Disney restaurants located at the resorts and parks (including downtown Disney). The dining plan is prep...