I have a few utensils in my kitchen that I use all the time, and others not so often.  But my favourite utensil I own is my stainless steel rings.

I use these rings for many different jobs.  I use them to make circular dishes, for example individual cheesecakes.  I also use these as cutters as they are a perfect size for biscuits or roundalls in pastry.  And I can use them to keep an egg separate in the frying pan.

They are so versatile that I use them often and I really love them.

So what is your favourite kitchen utensil?

My good friend, Barry Wells, has just launched a Video Challenge to inspire bloggers to create video posts on their blogs.

Everyone is welcome to join in with this challenge and I fully intend to create 4 videos, one for each week of the challenge, that reflect the topic of this blog.  My intention is to create four cookery videos where I will show you how to make four simple but tasty dishes.

For each video I will give you a break down of the costs of the ingredients so you can work them into your weekly budget if you decide to try the dishes out at home.

If there is anything you would like me to cover, or something you want to ask about that I can base any future videos or posts on, please leave a comment below and I will reply to your requests.

And if you want to join in the Video Challenge just click any of the highlighted links in this post and pop over to Barry’s Blog and let him know you’ll be joining in.  He is aiming for 100 participants and is already well under way at achieving that figure!

I look forward to seeing your vidoes!

Making your table attractive can turn an ordinary dinner time into a special occasion.  It will encourage your family to want to sit at the table to eat.  This improves family interaction and can help younger children to recognise meal times as an important part of family life, and encourage them to eat better.

A great way to make your table decorations look a little different is to place a plain tablecloth on the table first, then put a smaller cloth in a contrasting colour, or with a pattern on it, over the top, creating a diamond shape.

When choosing napkins try to get them colour co-ordinated for that extra special feel.

A white damask cloth with a smaller gingham check over the top, with dark green linen napkins

Growing your own vegetables has numerous benefits for you and your family.  The biggest benefit is the difference in nutrition you will get from freshly picked produce.  Shop bought fruit and vegetables have often travelled long distances and been stored in coolers for several days before it arrives on your dinner table, thus reducing the nutritional benefits.

Growing your own will also reduce your weekly food bills.  Instead of paying out over the counter each week, you can meet your needs by picking items fresh from your kitchen garden.

Kitchen gardens are easy to start.  You may think you can’t achieve one because you have a patio area with no beds to plant in.  All you need instead are large pots or containers.  These are particularly useful if you have limited mobility as there is less need to bend to low levels as you can place the pots on benches or tables for better access.

If you have a small garden you might want to think about taking on an allotment, or maybe asking a neighbour for an area in their garden in return for a share of the produce.  Many people don’t use all of their garden effectively and would welcome the opportunity to have someone to keep it for them.

Just think how nice it will be to go out and pick something you have grown with your own hands, cook it, and present it to your family.

One great advantage of cooking your own meals instead of buying ready prepared food is that you can control what ingredients are used.

If you are health conscious or trying to control your weight it pays to create menus and cook the food yourself, using fresh ingredients and low fat options.

Typically, processed or ready made meals will contain ingredients that you may not want to include in your diet. Also a wide variety of additives are used in processed foods. These have been known to have detrimental effects on the health of some people.

In order to create more flavour in their meals processed food manufacturers often add far greater amounts of sugar, salt and fat than you would use when preparing the same dish at home.

Preparing your own food at home gives you total control over what you eat, giving your body a better chance of greater health.