Winter is a time when we feel completely different than in summer, and it’s not just that we can’t wear light, airy dresses and sandals. Some of us even begin to envy animals hibernating in winter: they feel good, they fell asleep in the fall, woke up in the spring, and everything is fine with them - if only we could do that!

In fact, for animals, everything is not so simple, and in order to survive the winter in their sleep, they need to follow a certain diet in the fall - which they do, since they are not going to argue with nature. But we, people, often ignore nature and eat what is easier to buy and prepare (or don’t need to cook at all), and then we complain about the winter: we say that our skin is dry, our hair is weak, we are overweight, and my health has worsened.

Therefore, it is so important to find out how to eat properly in winter, and try to do this, rather than later blaming nature, climate and an unsettled life for your problems - especially since we still do not hibernate in winter.

Let's make a big contribution to our health and talk in detail about the features of winter nutrition.

Why is winter nutrition special?

What does our body need in winter? It’s cold, frost dries out the skin, the body needs to support the immune system, ensure proper heat exchange and prevent cell dehydration. He needs more calories, but we don’t need excess weight at all, so we need to build our winter nutrition correctly.

The immune system weakens in winter, metabolism also becomes different, and the production of certain hormones slows down. For example, there is much less melatonin - after all, in winter there is little light, and we are more likely to have a bad mood and lack of sleep.

In such cases, many people try to “warm up” and feel happier with the help of tasty and high-calorie food, and this especially applies to women: when it’s cold and in a bad mood, we really want to eat something sweet and tender, and as a result we get overweight .

Properly structured winter nutrition does not imply giving up any products necessary for the body - for example, fats. Cold Russian winters hardly encourage giving up what gives us the necessary calories and energy, so fats must be consumed: both animal and vegetable. In winter, it is enough to eat 30 g of fat per day - no less, and 1/3 should be animal fats: butter or a little salted lard - it is very useful in winter in small quantities. You can get fats from dairy products: sour cream, cream, cheeses. Vegetable fats are vegetable oils: soybean, olive, corn, etc.

The importance of proteins

Why are proteins so important for winter nutrition? Without proteins in winter, a person becomes susceptible to many infections and often catches colds. By using proteins that keep all our muscles toned, you can stay strong and healthy all winter. Proteins can also be plant or animal: legumes, soybeans, cheese, cottage cheese, eggs, fish, meat, but all these foods should be eaten in moderation - otherwise their excess will turn into fat. Fermented milk products also contain a lot of protein, and they are easily digested; In addition, they protect the intestinal flora, on which our immunity depends, so in winter they must be eaten.

We need 70-100 g of protein per day, depending on physical activity, age, gender and body weight.

Where to get vitamins in winter

And of course, we simply cannot do without vitamins in winter: without them, diseases will overtake us very quickly.

How to eat vegetables and fruits in winter? Try to eat 5 different vegetables and fruits every day: in dishes and separately, and best of all raw – if possible. You can use frozen fruits, berries and vegetables: they retain even more vitamins than those stored fresh.

Freeze the berries yourself: you can pick them on your own plot or buy them at the market in the fall. Preference should be given to berries that contain more vitamin C: sea buckthorn, currants, viburnum, cranberries, rose hips, cloudberries.

All vitamins and minerals are also preserved in dried fruits: dried apricots, prunes, raisins, pears and apples. If you mix them with nuts and honey, the body will be able to receive a full set of nutrients, digestion will improve, constipation will disappear, and in general - it’s just delicious!

You can make fruit drinks from frozen berries - such vitamin drinks also preserve everything useful. The berries should be poured with boiling water and left for about 6 hours, and then honey should be added. There is no need to add honey right away, otherwise almost all valuable substances will be destroyed in boiling water.

The best fruits in winter are citrus fruits because they retain vitamin C longer.

This vitamin is also found in sauerkraut, and there is a lot of it: you only need to eat 150 g to get the daily requirement. In addition, sauerkraut contains lactic acid, vitamin K and B vitamins. If you prepare salads from such cabbage, adding berries, dried fruits, and vegetable oil, the result will be very tasty and healthy.

Vitamins A and E are also needed in winter, especially our skin - after all, it suffers so much from frost and wind. It is known that there is a lot of vitamin A in carrots, but for its absorption we need fats, so cook carrots with sour cream, cream or vegetable oil. Unrefined vegetable oils contain a lot of vitamin E, and 2 tablespoons of any oil per day will be enough for us.

Vitamin D is produced mainly only by exposure to sunlight, but in winter there is very little light. However, try to be outside during the hours when the sun shines brightly, and at least expose your face, neck and hands to it, and also eat cod liver, fatty sea fish, eggs and dairy products.

What winter minerals are needed?

At any time of the year, we need minerals no less than other substances - without them we would be weak, sick and ugly.

There are many foods with a rich mineral composition, but we will list at least some for winter nutrition: these are green leafy vegetables, dried fruits, different types of cabbage, olives, nuts and seeds - pumpkin, sunflower, sesame; figs, legumes, avocado, potatoes, seaweed, eggs, yogurt, cheese, meat, etc.

What Eastern Medicine Says

If we turn to oriental medicine, then she believes that in winter it is necessary to help the kidneys work: they must be protected, provided with proper nutrition and not poisoned with alcohol, but they need salty food - for work. European experts, on the contrary, deny the beneficial effects of salt on kidney function and generally consider it harmful: salt causes the development of strokes, heart attacks, cataracts, diseases of the reproductive system and other health problems.

The truth, as always, is somewhere nearby: you don’t need to add fine table salt to your dishes - it actually causes kidney stones, but rock salt - large yellowish crystals - is much easier to tolerate by the body. The best option is products with a salty taste: seaweed, soy sauce, extracts of various plants.

Oriental nutritionists also recommend meat products for winter nutrition, but do not advise consuming them cold. However, in Russia there is such a wonderful winter meat dish as jelly: with mustard, horseradish, garlic - it strengthens bones and supplies us with calories.

In the East, by the way, the more valuable product is not the meat itself, but the liver, which we call offal: lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, even the spleen and stomach. Eastern doctors believe that they contain the vitality that a person needs at one time or another of the year: for example, in winter, kidneys are considered the best type of liver.

Cereals and potatoes are respected in eastern countries; Chestnuts and freshly squeezed juices are considered beneficial.

As a complement to the salty taste, spicy is used: pepper and adjika, various sauces, garlic, game meat - a little of all products.

Eastern dietetics does not welcome sweet dishes in winter, believing that sugar has a bad effect on kidney function. It is recommended to reduce the consumption of sweet cakes, sweets, pastries and other similar treats, as well as milk - it is considered sweet.

Oriental doctors reject canned compotes and jams: in the first case, we should agree with them, but we will defend the jam - it is very useful, otherwise our great-grandmothers would not have been such beauties.

They consider herring a delicacy, very useful in winter, and we completely agree with this.

Hot food and boiled vegetables

How to eat properly in winter? So... In winter, it is best to eat more hot food: of course, not too hot - this way the body will have to spend energy to cool it down. The most acceptable temperature is 40-50°C: this way you can warm up and the gastric mucosa will not be damaged.

In winter, you need to eat soups, cereals, vegetable stews, drink dried fruit compotes and herbal teas. Vegetable soup, soup with chicken and legumes are an excellent choice, but it is better not to eat soups with flour, sour cream or croutons in winter, or do it rarely - they will have little benefit, but a lot of extra calories.

Excellent winter food products are boiled vegetables. In winter, it is advisable to eat them every day - you can prepare many delicious salads and vinaigrettes from them. There are few fresh vegetables in winter, so their absence must be compensated for, and the best replacement would be steamed or baked vegetables.

Drink less coffee in winter and replace it with herbal tea, fruit juice and other berry drinks - this will only bring benefits.

Sample menu for how to eat in winter

A sample menu on a winter day might include juice or fruit for breakfast, whole grain porridge or toasted black bread with cheese, yogurt or another fermented milk product. These are dietary fiber, complex carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals - all this makes us full, cheerful and energetic.

As a second breakfast for winter meals, a bun is suitable - not a bun, but made from wholemeal flour, with a slice of avocado, but you can eat a banana or orange instead.

For lunch, a moderately hot vegetable soup is good, and for the second - boiled or baked meat, with zucchini or pumpkin.

For an afternoon snack, you can eat some fruit and some jam with crispy bread, and for dinner you can cook pasta: of course, not with meat or butter, but with vegetable sauce, tomatoes, cheese or seafood. Olive oil is most suitable for pasta - this is how Italians eat it, and they have very little fat.

Before going to bed, you can drink warm tea, or you can also eat a small plate of vegetarian soup, with a lot of different vegetables.

This menu contains a lot of carbohydrates and little fat, but this food warms us and gives us a feeling of fullness, and our body weight does not increase. Add more spices to your dishes, but not hot ones, just spicy ones - it will be tastier, and even less oil will be needed, and more vitamins will be added.

So winter is a time when it is quite possible to maintain a tasty and healthy diet, which makes it easier to endure the cold, remain energetic, healthy and beautiful.

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Moscow restaurants have updated their menus. Now there are: hearty soups, dishes with truffles, Christmas pizzas, Soviet classics and winter sets. Just what you need on a cold winter day.

A famous chef comes to Moscow Silvio Nicolas, winner of two Michelin stars. The visit is timed to coincide with the winter session of the gastronomic festival Masters ofFood & Wine which takes place at the hotel "Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow". On December 11, guests will be able to try the set menu, and on the remaining days of the festival, guests can order signature dishes Silvio Nicolas performed by the hotel chef Sebastian Kellerhoff.The set menu includes the following dishes: duck liver “forest” (mushrooms/spruce/chocolate), Saint-Pierre (seaweed/beans/parsley), langoustine (kohlrabi/cilantro/Japanese broth), pork belly (carrots/ pearl barley/potatoes), plum (peanuts/yeast/malt).

Price: 6,200 rub. for the set menu.

Where: st. Neglinnaya, 4, Ararat Park Hyatt Moscow hotel, Conservatory bar, 10th floor.

meat dishes in C arne/ Vino

Not long ago a new restaurant about wine and meat opened from Julia Vysotskaya Carne/Vino. Beef ribs are prepared here (and served in pita with baked eggplant), roast beef, and pork belly is smoked over alder. What to look for on the menu? We recommend grain-fed beef tartare (420 rubles), beef liver pate with port wine jelly (310 rubles) and a sandwich on homemade brioche with orange zest, mozzerella, salsa and roast beef (490 rubles). They make their own bread, and the pate has an interesting presentation. As a first course, you can order bean soup with smoked pork belly (380 rubles) or beef broth with smoked potatoes and sweet peppers (380 rubles). Even more hearty dishes: stewed pearl barley porridge (420 rubles) with garlic and stewed beef and meat sauce with port wine, stewed beef cheeks (520 rubles) with smoked potatoes, thick meat sauce and garlic butter, pork ribs (870 rubles .) with BBQ sauce, beef ribs (980 rub.). And further. Be aware that the portions are large.

Where: st. Kuznetsky Most, 21/5.

Chef Anton Magdyuk introduced a winter set to the menu, in which each dish has its own role. First of all, guests are given a fragrant basket with spruce branches, cones, hazelnuts, bark and tangerines. A Christmas wreath serves as decoration throughout the action, and the chef hid some edibles in the herbarium. The set includes the following dishes: pate of elk, roe deer, wild boar with hazelnuts in candied tangerine on a gingerbread crumble; pastrami smoked in hay with chestnuts and hazelnuts with quince confiture and smoked paprika; baked chicken with a bouquet of herbs; New Year's dessert made of chocolate with Aperol sorbet and strawberries, which the chef made up beyond recognition.

Price: 1,900 rub.

When: until the end of January.

Where: Presnenskaya embankment, 12.

winter menu at Noah's Ark

By the beginning of winter, the restaurant chef "Noah's Ark" prepared a dozen new positions.
The restaurant now has more fish dishes: whitefish caught in Lake Sevan in crispy lavash (1,200 rubles), catfish from a farm nursery with honey-lemon sauce and salad of arugula, apples and cucumber (650 rubles). The first item on the winter menu is the hallmark of Armenian cuisine, aveluk and lentil soup with walnuts (520 rubles). Now in the establishment you can try julienne with porcini mushrooms and chicken (520 rubles) and mini manti with lamb or veal (680 rubles).

Where: Maly Ivanovsky Lane, 9.

truffle menu in BUONO

At an Italian restaurant Buono a seasonal enogastronomic offer from the chef has started Christiana Lorenzini. The menu has been supplemented with new items with truffle: beef carpaccio with truffle sauce (RUB 1,850), risotto with Parmesan, Fontina cheese and truffle (RUB 1,420), tagliolini « Alla Remo » with truffle (520 RUR), tagliatelle in Parmesan with cream sauce, ravioli with turbot and scallops in truffle sauce with potato mousse (2,200 RUR), Chilean sea bass « Mantecato » with potatoes and truffle (RUB 1,150), chocolate truffle (RUB 990), Dai-Dai parfait (RUB 220).

When: The menu is valid until the end of December.

Where: Kutuzovsky Prospekt, 2/1, building 1 (29th floor of Radisson Royal Hotel, Ukraine).

Christmas pizza in Scrocchiarella

Pizzaiolo Tiziano Casilo, brand chef of a Moscow cafe Scrocchiarella, has developed a seasonal menu of Roman pizzas for Muscovites. The peculiarity of Roman pizza is that the dough for it is prepared using flour of strictly selected varieties of wheat with sourdough according to a secret recipe 100 years ago. The dough takes four days to mature.

The pizza is first baked until half cooked without toppings, and then sauce, cheese and other ingredients are added and baked at high temperature until done.

New items: Christmas pizza (RUB 780). with caramelized apples and plums, cream cheese with walnuts, liqueur-flambéed pear with lingonberries, fresh strawberries, pine nuts and mint. In addition, there is pizza with smoked duck (RUB 780), TerraeMare pizza (RUB 650) with anchovies, grilled pineapple and chicken (RUB 650), turkey with tuna tonnato (RUB 650), pizza with pumpkin, spinach, goat cheese and dried beef carpaccio (RUB 780), beef carpaccio pizza (RUB 780).

Where: st. Pokrovka, 1.

new menu inBurger& Pizzetta

Three new dishes have appeared in the appetizers section: baba ganoush with tzatziki sauce and vegetable salsa (320 rubles), baked bell peppers with tzatziki and almond petals (370 rubles), Greek sirtaki cheese with fresh tomato sauce (290 rubles). The new burger with the self-explanatory name “Bolognese” adds hot jalapeno pepper and Mexican chipotle (420 rubles), and another original filling for the signature pizzetta is a combination of Bolognese sausage mortadella and pistachios (370 rubles). There is also a rich oxtail soup with celery and chickpeas (320 rubles). The hot dishes section was replenished with chicken thigh sous vide with tempura broccoli and sweet and sour sauce (420 rubles), risotto with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil (520 rubles) and “5 cheese” macaroni cheese with a mix of mozzarella, parmesan, fontina , emmental and gorgonzola (500 rub.).

Where: Shopping center "European", 2nd floor, atrium "Berlin", pl. Kievsky railway station, 2.

Neapolitan pizza at Pizzamento

You can try Neapolitan pizza at a new pizzeria Pizzamento. The dough is prepared according to a classic recipe based on Italian fine flour from soft wheat varieties, matures for 16-18 hours and is rolled out by hand. Pizza is baked in a wood-fired oven at a temperature of over 500 degrees in just 30-40 seconds. The resulting thin crust pizza with wide soft sides Pizzamento served with three sauces to choose from: green pesto, scarlet tomato or white truffle. The menu includes both hits of Italian cuisine and unusual pizzas (with tuna, spicy star-shaped pizza with pepperoni and ricotta, dessert “Strudel”).

Where: st. Tverskaya, 12/2.

Soviet classics in« Glassvodka»

The project has just recently opened « Glassvodka» (joint history Grigory Leps And Emina Agalarova). There are over 30 varieties of vodka, 27 of our own liqueurs and liqueurs. On the menu: Soviet classics (forshmak, sandwiches with sprat, lard with bread, sauerkraut, vinaigrette, Olivier salad, mimosa, herring under a fur coat, chicken broth, fish soup, Kiev cutlets, chicken tabaka, khinkali, khachapuri, dumplings).

Simple, clear and accessible - these are the three pillars of a real wine glass. The average check at the establishment is 500-1,000 rubles.

Where: st. Petrovka, 30/7.

steaks inBrisket BBQ

Restaurant menu Brisket BBQ has been replenished with classic and alternative steaks. Now here you can try meat dishes cooked on an open grill. To the already existing classic Ribeye steak (RUB 2,400), Filet Mignon steak (RUB 2,600) was added. Among the alternatives, we added Denver (RUB 1,350) - from a juicy, aromatic and quite multi-purpose cut. Also on the menu: Sirloin Flap (RUB 1,200), Top Blade (RUB 1,400), Vegas strip (RUB 1,600).

Where: Smolensky Boulevard, 15.

read in Ukrainian

7 recipes for delicious dishes.

© Shutterstock

Traditionally, on Fridays, we prepare a ready-made menu for you for the week and calculate the required amount of food for a family of two, so that you don’t buy too much, but also don’t end up with an empty refrigerator at the end of the week. All you have to do is print out our list and, if necessary, make adjustments for other family members, taking into account their appetite.

Read other materials in the section " "

Today we have compiled a menu for you for the week from December 23 to 29. Don't forget that December is ongoing, which will last until January 6th. Have a great and delicious week!

This week you will need to buy:

Meat and dairy products, fish, eggs:

• Beef 500 g
• Pork 200 g
• Bacon 250 g
• Chicken fillet 500 g
• Cheese 100 g
• Cream cheese or feta 70 g
• Pecorino cheese 100 g
• Parmesan 150 g
• Butter 80 g
• Sour cream 100 g
• Cream 30 g
• Eggs 3 pcs.
• Fish fillet 800 g

Vegetables, fruits and herbs:

• Potatoes 8 pcs.
• Carrots 3 pcs.
• Onion 3 pcs.
• Blue onion 1 pc.
• Parsley root 1 pc.
• Beijing cabbage 1.5 cups
• Broccoli 500 g
• Bell pepper 2 pcs.
• Tomatoes 1 pc.
• Cherry tomatoes 15 pcs.
• Pickled cucumbers 4 pcs.
• Dried mushrooms 100 g
• Garlic 1 head
• Green beans 5 pods
• Greens 2 bunches
• Mandarin 1 pc.

Grocery:

• Wheat flour 200 g
• Rye flour 450 g
• Spaghetti 500 g
• Corn 2 tbsp. spoons
• White bread 200 g
• 1 can canned white beans
• Soy sauce 15 ml
• Dry white wine 100 ml
• Lemon juice 2 tbsp. l

As you remember, we expect that you already have oil, salt, pepper and basic spices.

Remember: our recommendations are very flexible. Replace any product or recipe as you wish, rearrange them - in any case it will turn out delicious. You can follow our recommendations exactly or just build on them - in any case, you will get seven evenings of wonderful dinners.

From the products presented above, next week you will be able to prepare:

Monday

Quick salads © shutterstock

Salad with tomatoes and beans

Ingredients:

• cherry tomatoes 15 pcs.
• 1 can canned white beans
• parsley
• olive 3-4 tablespoons
• garlic - 3 cloves
• sprig of rosemary
• lemon juice - 2 tablespoons
• freshly ground pepper

Preparation:

Heat olive oil, add coarsely chopped garlic and rosemary. Warm up for 1-2 minutes and set the oil aside for 30 minutes so that it is saturated with the aroma of garlic and rosemary.

Then remove the garlic and rosemary from the oil. Discard the rosemary, grind the garlic in a mortar and return to the oil. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice and a pinch of sugar, mix everything well.

Wash, dry the tomatoes and cut them in half. Finely chop the parsley. Mix beans, tomatoes, herbs and dressing in a bowl, mix everything well and let sit for 10-15 minutes.

Tuesday

Rassolnik recipe © Shutterstock

Rassolnik with mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 4 potatoes,
• 1 onion,
• 1 carrot,
• 1 parsley root,
• 4 pickled cucumbers,
• 100 g dried mushrooms,
• 1 bunch of greens,
• 2 tbsp. spoons of vegetable oil,
• 2 liters of water,
• salt to taste.

Preparation:

Pour boiling water over dried mushrooms for about 3 hours to soak them. Then rinse the mushrooms well and strain the infusion. Add water to the infusion to a volume of 2 liters and cook the mushrooms in it for about 1 hour.

Finely chop the onion. Grate the carrots and parsley root on a coarse grater. Saute the onion in vegetable oil, then add parsley root, carrots and carcasses, stirring for 10 minutes.

Cut the potatoes into small cubes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the mushrooms from the broth and add the potatoes.

Chop the mushrooms, add to the pan with the vegetables and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer the stewed vegetables to the soup and cook for 5-7 minutes.

Peel the pickles and cut into strips. Chop the greens. Add cucumbers, herbs, salt and, if necessary, cucumber pickle to the pickle. Cook the pickle for another 3-5 minutes.

Serve pickle with sour cream.

Wednesday

© shutterstock

Chinese cabbage salad with chicken and cheese balls

Ingredients:

• Chicken fillet - 180-200 g
• Sesame - 2-3 tsp.
• Beijing cabbage - 1.5 cups
• Bell pepper - 0.5 pcs.
• Blue onion - 0.5 heads
• Corn - 2 tbsp. l.

For the cheese balls:

• Cream cheese or feta cheese - 70 g
• Garlic - 1 tooth.
• Dried basil - 0.5 tsp.
• Dill - to taste

For crackers:

• Bread - 2 slices
• Olive oil - 30 ml
• Provençal herbs - 0.5 tsp.
• Garlic - 1 tooth.

For refueling:

• Sour cream - 4 tbsp. l.
• Soy sauce - 10-15 ml
• Garlic - 2 teeth.
• Tangerine fresh - 0.5 tangerine
• Salt, pepper, spices to taste

Preparation:

Cut the bread into cubes about 1.5 cm. Mix olive oil with garlic, Provençal herbs and salt. Place the cubes in a baking container, pour in the prepared mixture, mix thoroughly and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes at a temperature of 160-170 degrees. Stir them from time to time.

Cut the chicken fillet into strips, add salt, pepper, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Fry over high heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently, not allowing the meat to burn.

Finely chop the cabbage and bell pepper into thin strips.

Make cheese balls. To do this, take cream cheese or feta, add finely chopped dill, garlic through a press, basil and mash well with a fork. Then, from this mass, form balls in your palms with your hands.

For dressing, mix sour cream, soy sauce, garlic, tangerine juice and spices.

Mix cabbage, corn, finely chopped onion, bell pepper, chicken. Place on a plate, top with cheese balls, croutons, and pour dressing over the Chinese cabbage salad.

Thursday

© Shutterstock

Finnish fish pie kalakukko

Ingredients:

• 3.5 cups rye flour
• 1.5 cups wheat flour
• 60 g butter
• lard for lubrication
• 800 g fish fillet (perch or salmon)
• 200 g fatty pork
• 2 tbsp. l. heavy cream
• salt, black pepper

Preparation:

Pour water into the flour, add softened butter and salt, knead the dough. On a floured surface, roll out the dough and fold it in half. Now put the dough in the refrigerator, it should rest for 30 minutes.

While the dough is waiting, cut the pork into cubes, pass through a meat grinder, now do the same with the fish. Mix the minced meat and add cream, salt and pepper.

Let's assemble our pie. Roll out the dough into a not too thin rectangular layer (the middle should be thicker than the edges). Place the minced meat on one half, cover it with the other half and pinch the edges.

Place in an oven preheated to 250°C until the dough is golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat in the oven to 100-110°C and bake for 4-5 hours. Grease the pie with lard from time to time. Cut the finished kalakukko into pieces, drizzle with melted butter and serve.

Friday

How to cook broccoli © shutterstock

Broccoli: chicken and cheese soup recipe

Ingredients:

• 300 g chicken fillet,
• 500 g broccoli,
• 1 carrot,
• 1 onion,
• 100 g cheese,
• 1 tbsp. spoon of butter,
• coriander,
• ground black pepper,
• salt to taste,
• 2 liters of water.

Preparation:

Wash the chicken fillet, add cold water, salt, bring to a boil and skim off the foam. Cut half an onion and add to the chicken broth. Add salt, spices and cook the meat over low heat for 25-30 minutes.

Chop the remaining onion and grate the carrots. Sauté the onion in butter, add the carrots and fry a little.

Remove the meat from the broth, add the broccoli, bring to a boil and cook the broccoli for 10 minutes. Strain the broth.

Beat the meat, broccoli and roast in a blender with a small amount of broth. Return the resulting puree to the broth, bring to a boil and, stirring, simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Grate the cheese and add a little to the soup until completely dissolved.

When serving broccoli soup, you can add a little butter or sour cream and croutons.

Saturday

© shutterstock

Meat with vegetables in the oven

Ingredients:

• 500 gr. beef pulp
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 tomato
• 1 carrot
• 4 potatoes
• 5 green beans
• 1 onion
• pepper, salt

Preparation:

Rinse the meat, dry it with a paper towel and cut into small pieces. Wash and peel the vegetables. Cut tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, carrots and potatoes into slices.

In a separate bowl, combine all the vegetables, add fresh beans, pepper and salt. Mix everything thoroughly and add to the meat.

Place the resulting mixture in a baking sleeve, pinch the edges, pierce the sleeve with a skewer in several places and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes at 200 degrees.

Sunday

Sometimes a raw egg is poured onto the finished Carbonara pasta! © shutterstock.com

Spaghetti Carbonara

Ingredients:

• olive oil,
• 250 g bacon (fat bacon),
• 0.5 cups dry white wine,
• 3 very fresh eggs,
• 150 g finely grated Parmesan,
• 100 g finely grated Pecorino cheese,
• 3 cloves of garlic,
• 500 g spaghetti,
• salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Preparation:

Bring 4 liters of water to a boil in a large saucepan.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the olive oil until it begins to simmer but not smoke. Cut the bacon in half lengthwise and then crosswise into small pieces. Fry it, stirring, until it becomes crispy. Add wine and cook until the alcohol smell has evaporated and the wine has reduced slightly, 6 to 8 minutes. Now remove from heat and cover with a lid to retain heat.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs, cheese and garlic with a fork.

When the water boils, add spaghetti and 1 tbsp to the pan. l. regular salt. Stir gently to prevent the pasta from sticking. Cook until al dante.

Place the pasta in a colander and drain the water, reserving half a cup. Let the spaghetti dry slightly for 5-10 seconds. (they should remain slightly moist) then transfer to a warmed serving bowl. If the pasta is too dry, add some cooking water and stir.

Now comes the most important part! Immediately pour the egg mixture over the hot spaghetti and sprinkle with 1 tsp. sea ​​salt flakes or half a teaspoon of regular salt, mix well. Pour the mixture of bacon and boiled wine into the pasta, season generously with black pepper and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately.

Bon appetit!

Now watch the video recipe grilled fish from simxa.com.ua

Camera/Editing: Evgenia Drach
Style/food: Olga Drach
simxa. com. ua/

Lavender fields of Provence© wikitravel.org

Lavender fields of Provence© wikipedia.org

Monument Valley, America© wikipedia.org

Viaduct Bridge, Scotland© wikipedia.org

Maya Bay Beach on Phi Phi Lei Island© Shutterstock

Maya Bay Beach on Phi Phi Lei Island© Shutterstock

To get an idea of ​​how many products we need per week and in what categories, I photographed them:

Vegetables, fruits, herbs, mushrooms, nuts

Meat, poultry, offal, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products

Groceries and other products

Vanilla sugar – 1 tsp.

Mustard - 1 tsp.

Bay leaf - 2 pcs.

Sesame - 1 tbsp.

Pumpkin seeds (optional) - 10g

Yeast - 15 g

Cocoa powder - 1.5 tbsp.

Baking powder - 3 tsp.

Powdered sugar - 2 tbsp.

Soda - 1 tsp.

Wine vinegar - 2 tbsp. red

Semolina - 200 g

Wheat cereal - 120 g

Mayonnaise - 1 tbsp.

Vegetable oil - 300 ml

Wheat flour - 1.3 kg

Baguette - 2 pcs

Rice - 340 g

Sugar - 450 g

Spaghetti - 460 g

Breadcrumbs - 12 g

Tomato paste - 75 g

Oat flakes - 1.5 cups

Lentils - 400 g

How much did it all cost?

(February 2019)

The amount on the check is 3290 rubles. But if you count accurately, then this amount is less, since some of the food will not be eaten this week, but will be saved for the next one. For example, I need 50 g of semolina for the menu. But you have to buy 900 g (the smallest package). Accordingly, if you count the cost of only those products that are needed on the menu, you will get 2,745 rubles.

Yes, yes, I am a fan of calculations and I have a special table with macros that automatically calculates all this. Come to the training and I’ll share.

I spend 5,000 rubles a week on groceries. Where does the remaining 2,600 rubles go?

Part 2. Foods that do not need to be cooked – RUB 2,081

Of course, the dishes that are on our menu are not the only thing we eat. Another significant part is made up of ready-made products (for example, bread). Or foods that do not need to be cooked: fruits, cottage cheese, tea, etc. They cost another 2,081 rubles.

Part 3. Unforeseen expenses - 174 rubles.

As life shows, you always need to have a reserve for unforeseen expenses, which, no matter how you plan, are sure to happen. In my weekly budget this reserve is 174 rubles.

Of course, prices in your city may differ from prices in mine (St. Petersburg). But if you take my menu as a basis, you can also spend about 2800 rubles per week (what you need to cook). And the rest is up to taste and desire.

And one more note. You can create an even more economical menu than mine: replace beef with pork, do not buy expensive fruits in winter (we have them on the menu every day), reduce the amount of dairy products. But for me, this will already be a crossing over the line, where proper nutrition ends and unhealthy savings begin.

So I’ll repeat it again. I don’t insist that my menu is the best economical menu in the world. And I don’t pretend that this is the most dietary and balanced menu.

My menu is about a balance between “healthy” and “economical”. This is about the choice that millions of women around the world make every day: how to feed their family tasty, healthy and not expensive.

42 comments »

Tasha: | March 3rd, 2019 | 7:44 am

Hmmm.... This is necessary, a person knows that he will eat in five or six days. With my traglodytes it is difficult to distribute the menu like that.
Answer: Tasha, anything is possible!))) At the “Menu Management” training there were women with large families with 5-7 children. Everything worked out.

Ekaterina: | March 9th, 2018 | 9:35 am

Daria, good afternoon!
A very useful invention! And tell me where are the cooking methods? The same pies or boiled beets in salads? How do you add tomato paste simply? Thank you
Answer: Ekaterina, all the recipes are on the website. You can easily find them by searching and see the preparation in detail.

Aliya: | February 16th, 2018 | 4:21 pm

Thank you, Daria, for the most interesting site and help to all mothers and housewives!!! Very informative article!!! How has your menu changed today? I'd love to read it! There are still a few more days on the site, I’m just getting to know it, I’m absolutely delighted))
Answer: Aliya, thank you for your enthusiastic review!

Elena: | June 25th, 2017 | 4:32 pm

Tell me, is there a calculation on the card for how many servings?
Answer: Elena, for 4 servings.

Marina: | August 10th, 2016 | 11:56 am

Thank you for good advice!
Answer: Marina, thanks for the comment! Enjoy it for your health! :)

Victoria: | March 15th, 2016 | 7:20 am

Daria, thank you very much for answering my question.
I will regulate the moments with fruits and additives. I’m only in my second week of cooking according to the menu (although I’ve been grazing on your site for about 3 years now), I haven’t quite gotten used to the volume of cooking.
Your tips and ideas are very valuable to me and I try to use them, but adjust them to suit myself.
I like the recipes and so far there hasn’t been a single misfire :) everything I’ve tried has worked out.
Thank you!!!
Answer: Victoria, I’m very glad that you liked the menu creation system, and that you and your family liked the site’s recipes. Bon appetit!

Darinka: | March 10th, 2016 | 8:46 am

Daria, thank you for your work. I don’t like to cook and I subscribed to your site for this reason. And now I couldn’t be happier, I get so much inspiration from you and pleasure from cooking.
Our family is all mixed (we eat milk and fish) vegetarians, two adults and three children. Naturally, we would like to see more dishes without meat, although I have already adapted to replacing it with fish in some dishes.
Thank you.
Answer: Darinka, thank you! On our website we have a fairly large section of lenten dishes, as well as vegetable and side dishes. I hope you will find among these recipes those that will become favorites in your family.

Victoria: | March 10th, 2016 | 5:46 dp

Tell me, how do you solve the issue with additives? For example, I prepared 8 servings (for 2 servings), but someone in the family wanted an addition and it turns out that there will be 3 servings left, not 4.
And as for the issue with fruits, for example, I put apples on the menu for Thursday, let’s say, there are also apples on the menu for pie. But the child wanted an apple on Monday and Thursday, and as a result there weren’t enough apples for the pie on Saturday.
Do you go buy more or change the menu for Saturday depending on the products available?
Answer: Victoria, it’s all simple: if you want more, it means you’re not full. Then you can take something else out of the refrigerator or freezer and offer to eat it so that you feel full. As for fruits, the choice is simple: either give the child an extra apple, and either replace the dish for Saturday, or buy additional apples. Or, as is customary in our family, explain that apples are needed for preparing other dishes. And if you want fruit, then you can eat not an apple, but, for example, a banana. In our family, everyone is accustomed to this, both adults and children - before taking something from the refrigerator, they ask whether it is possible. Because I am in charge of the kitchen, and I determine which products to use at what time.

Elena Kalinina: | March 5th, 2016 | 8:29 am

thank you, Dashenka!!!
We managed to be even more economical, all our own vegetables, a lot of freezing
Answer: Elena, yes, your preparations are very helpful.

Julia: | February 6th, 2016 | 11:53 am

Dashenka, thank you very much for such an invention. We've been eating your menu all week and we're just delighted. No need to worry about what to cook. And the food is always in the refrigerator, for the whole week. Very comfortably. And there is no need to waste time counting the necessary products, everything is done for us. Thanks again for your hard work. And I have a question: is it possible to get such a menu for every week? Well, we really liked it.
Answer: Julia, we now have 2 economical menus - and

Alena: | February 5th, 2016 | 8:08 pm

It’s complete nonsense. You can’t feed a family with 3 adults, physically working men. And where are the savings? It turns out 20,000 a month just for food. It costs me much less, and the diet is larger, tastier, and more satisfying.
Answer: Alena, a family with three adult men is possible. This is the menu that suits my family.

Alina: | February 5th, 2016 | 5:29 dp

Dasha, when do you prepare breakfast, do you get up early or early? In general, my husband can’t have a second meal for lunch without a second one, so I’m thinking, maybe I can increase the portion of the prepared second one so that I can serve him for lunch, but then the same dish for dinner ((or have two side dishes in stock, if it is not a combined dish (pilaf, spaghetti). For us, the main problem is to have more variety, not without saving of course). We are moving to the village, so the question arises about menu planning and purchasing once for a long time .For now the problem is that, for example, I cook a pot of soup and I don’t even know how many servings there are, only for about 2 days, and it happens that on the third we finish it (
Answer: Alina, breakfast – when will it be? For example, a casserole can be prepared the day before, porridge can be entrusted to a slow cooker or quickly cooked in the morning. Yes, different side dishes and cooking a little more is really the way to go.

Julia: | February 1st, 2016 | 6:53 pm

For me and my family (husband, cat, two children three and seven years old) this menu is kind of hungry. I have nothing against morning porridge, but it also comes with a sandwich with cheese and butter - then ok. Lunch is generally kind of dull. Even the youngest child for lunch after soup (which is either with poultry, or with meatballs, or fish, or vegetables with sour cream) asks for something for the second course. Cutlet or pancakes. A lunch consisting of just soup is not much like a full meal; you need something for the second course. An afternoon snack with a full lunch is an apple, banana or orange. There are no complaints about dinner
Answer: Julia, for lunch - soup and seasonal vegetable salad. Every family has its own eating habits. This menu certainly suits my family.

Elena: | February 1st, 2016 | 8:00 am

This is such an unusual diet for me! I've been living on it for three days... I remembered my former nanny. She is Armenian and a great hostess. My husband and I decided to buy an apartment and saved a lot. Her expression: “The main thing is that it smells like meat and that’s okay!” Now I understood what she meant. But I liked it! Otherwise, we really do eat too much meat.
Answer: Elena, yes, this is one of the ways to save.

Evgenia: | January 31st, 2016 | 8:53 pm

Interesting! I just don’t understand where the products are for complementary feeding of the youngest child
Answer: Evgenia, in the photo there is a mixture, and also what we ourselves eat, just by the teeth: banana, apple, cottage cheese, soup, vegetable puree, meatballs, etc.

Olga: | January 31st, 2016 | 5:11 pm

Dasha, please tell us how you feed your youngest child? As I understand it, the breast milk has already been rolled up, and in addition to the mixture, there are purees from the store? Or do you do it yourself? Or do you just feed from the table?
Answer: Olga, a mixture for bedtime and at night, and during the day what we eat ourselves, just by the teeth: banana, apple, cottage cheese, soup, vegetable puree, meatballs, etc.

Ekaterina: | January 31st, 2016 | 4:20 pm

Thanks for the good advice! They make housekeeping easier! I really like it when everything is organized)).
Although I have a slightly different policy. I never save on cheeses, butter, sausages, because there are too many counterfeit products now. I focus on inspections by Roskomnadzor and other similar organizations. It’s better to overpay than to eat soy and chemicals. Plus, I add something like avocado and other healthy products to my diet, the prices of which are sometimes steep. Once again, you may not buy a blouse or eat poorly.
As for the medications, I don’t see anything terrible in that. All the doctors and pharmacists I know confirm that the shelf life of drugs is deliberately lowered by six months so that people who do not particularly monitor them do not get poisoned.
Answer: Ekaterina, thanks for the comment!

Elena: | January 31st, 2016 | 1:58 pm

Regarding shopping with children. Perhaps this will be useful to someone. We have a family of teachers and psychologists, so without harming the psyche of children, the following scheme was invented - a day of harm (in our case it is Friday). On this day, children can choose any sweet for themselves, but only on this day and only one. On other days, the assortment of confectionery products is set by the mother. This began, however, not because of pedagogical or economic considerations, but because of the children’s allergies. So, now children happily rush to the shelves with sweets in the store, look at them and in the end say: “I’ll buy you on Friday”)))) Of course, they didn’t immediately agree with this, but after about 3-4 no problems for a month))
Answer: Elena, thank you! Great way.

Natalya: | January 30th, 2016 | 7:07 am

Where are there wholesale centers in the south of Moscow or the Moscow region?

Olga: | January 29th, 2016 | 10:41 pm

Thank you for such a great job. The menu impresses me with the abundance of baked goods, but it just doesn’t work for me; even in a bread machine, bread has never turned out. The only thing that confuses us is the salads for two days. It seems to me that vegetable salads on the second day are completely tasteless.
Answer: Olga, of course, this is a menu that suits my family specifically. You can adapt it to suit your needs. And salads can be made every day. It does not take a lot of time.

Marina: | January 29th, 2016 | 9:03 pm

Thank you! Everything is detailed. Each family has its own preferences, after all, it’s interesting to read and adopt something for yourself) In St. Petersburg, and probably in other cities, there are wholesale markets - from where everything is taken to shops and stores. There the prices are several times lower, the products are still the same, even fresher, not stored in stores. One on Sofiyskaya, the other on Piskarevka. We buy there in boxes and boxes and divide it between our family, my brother’s family and my mother’s. Or we buy together with friends. Although in the fall they ate a box of persimmons themselves in a few days, they don’t need helpers)
Answer: Marina, thank you for your experience!

Anfisa: | January 29th, 2016 | 9:02 pm

As for me, 5 people and 20,000 a month is just that! Daria, well done for sharing this information. We are also 5 people. We tried to eat on 16,000 a month, but it turned out to be not enough. They added 1000 per week - that’s it. We are lovers of meat and dairy))))) You can’t save much on this.
Answer: Anfisa, thank you! It's nice to meet someone with similar tastes :)

Natalia: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:42 pm

The menu is very good, although it doesn’t suit us because we all work, for example, soups are only on weekends, on weekdays the child eats in the garden, and we eat at work. But one question remains - where is dinner on your menu? Or is it just a list of dishes, and they are distributed differently throughout the day? It’s just that if I offer my family a salad in the evening, they will eat me for dinner instead :)
Answer: Natalia, for lunch we have soup and salad, for an afternoon snack - dessert, and for dinner a second course with a side dish. We have enough :)

Tatiana: | January 29th, 2016 | 6:07 pm

All this is interesting, but how can you live comfortably on 1,500 rubles a week?
Answer: Tatyana, it all depends on how many people are in your family, whether you have supplies, a subsidiary farm, what city you live in... Of course, it all depends on the amount you need to meet, but you can always come up with options.

Ira: | January 29th, 2016 | 4:14 pm

Daria, thank you for the inspiration! Once again I am convinced that a plan is everything! Without a plan, there is again throwing around and a lot of wasted money. I have a question: how do you manage to work with three children at home? I can only do it when they are sleeping, which is at most three hours a day.
Answer: Irina, my husband and I take turns :) He takes care of the children - I work. If he works, then I take care of the children. Older children play with each other a lot, and this is a big advantage of a small age difference.

Inna: | January 29th, 2016 | 2:24 pm

As I understand it, this menu is currently somewhere due to a move. Daria always has a lot of different frozen foods. I followed the example from the site - I froze, tomato puree from fresh tomatoes, just now I seasoned cabbage soup, frozen zucchini has been lying around since the summer and is being used), bell peppers - for the New Year - khashloma stunningly reminded me of summer, I had greens, but the lights weren’t turned off It managed to freeze and spoiled. And regarding milk, this is individual - we also have three children - a day takes from a liter to three, even if you have a cow... a kilogram of cottage cheese and sour cream per week... And a liter of kefir a day for sure, I can’t live without it - it’s dinner, and the family is company. And guess what gift from my uncle for the New Year created a sensation and eclipsed all the others - a huge head of CHEESE - they ate it for a month and praised it! I tried to bring the consumption of dairy products to a reasonable level - sad faces, slamming of the refrigerator door, inspection of the pantry, something to eat. Now we are trying to take low-fat milk, cottage cheese too, but I will butt heads with cheese - they eat too much. I won’t say anything about the harm of milk, my husband grew up without mother’s milk on diluted cow’s milk, anyone can drink it, I also grew up on kefir - if I don’t drink it my stomach starts to hurt, we were on tour in Italy, three days later I was combing grocery stores like an addict Rima for at least yogurt (I can’t say for my children either that they suffer from milk, maybe because athletes live with stress?
Answer: Inna, thank you for your comment! Yes, of course, each family has its own dietary habits.

Nectunt: | January 29th, 2016 | 11:34 am

Dasha, happy moving!!!
Answer: Thank you! :)

Tatiana: | January 29th, 2016 | 11:32 am

Elenna: | January 29th, 2016 | 11:16 am

I look and admire! Thank you very much for your advice, they really help. We also have 3 children (8, 6 years and 9 months) and my husband was “hooked” on a raw food diet with elements of vegetarianism, so there were an awful lot of expenses and, worst of all, there were “undernourished foods” and expired spoiled foods. But now everything is much better!
Answer: Elenna, thank you! I am glad that our advice helps you manage your household rationally :)

Anna: | January 29th, 2016 | 10:31 am

Thank you. I like everything except milk in plastic bottles. It usually costs more, and is not environmentally friendly, if anyone thinks about it. I cross out mayonnaise too
Answer: Anna, thanks for the note!

Elena: | January 29th, 2016 | 10:15 am

Thank you for such detailed calculations! You can immediately see what and how much money is spent on, and you can adjust expenses. Are the prices in the table current? I live in the Primorsky Territory and many of our price tags are 2 times higher!
Answer: Elena, thank you! Prices are current for January 2016 in St. Petersburg.

Marusya: | January 29th, 2016 | 10:01 am

Super! It looks like mine. Only we have more flour - we bake our own bread, and milk - cottage cheese and yogurt are also homemade. It costs a lot to feed a child at school - about 2,500 a month (breakfast and lunch), which they are not allowed to carry with them.
And regarding the use of expired goods... Somehow our TV personalities have completely sold themselves to pharmaceutical companies - they even want to sell expired goods ((((((((.
Answer: Maroussia, thanks for the comment!

Gulnara: | January 29th, 2016 | 9:28 am

Daria, you are just great! It is mind-boggling for a mother with three children to do such a huge job.. You give a lot of great ideas and excellent motivation! Thank you! From a grateful reader
Answer: Gulnara, thank you!

Natalya: | January 29th, 2016 | 9:23 am

And I live alone. I love to cook, but I don’t have breakfast. I practically don’t eat cheese, dairy or fruit (rarely) – I don’t like it. I live in Moscow and spend 7,000 rubles a month on food (soups and main courses, baked goods). I am an accountant and I keep my own cash register, I know exactly where and how much I spent. I eat tasty and varied food.
Answer: Natalya, thank you for your comment!

Tatiana: | January 29th, 2016 | 9:18 am

Julia: | January 29th, 2016 | 9:17 am

You can add one more to these savings. I live in Moscow, and there are periodic “sales” of products here. We usually track them on the websites of nearby hypermarkets, and as soon as they “throw away” something actively consumed in our family (and even stored in the freezer for a long time), we run and pick it up with a reserve (within reason, of course). But you must definitely check the quality (if it’s meat) and expiration date (you never know). In general, this is the only way we buy groceries. The result is tangible savings without harm to health or harm to yourself. Naturally, the menu partly depends on what we managed to purchase (if there is cottage cheese, we add more cottage cheese dishes, if there is milk, there are dairy dishes, if there are vegetables, there are vegetables, meat/fish/chicken “overwinters” well in the freezer until needed). The menu is constantly changing, because... The assortment of “sales” changes, but, of course, is not limited to “discounted” products.
Answer: Julia, thank you for your experience!

Laura: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:45 am

Dasha, thank you very much, I’ll try it.
Answer: Laura, I will be glad if you like it. Can you tell us about your impressions?

Anna: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:42 am

Thank you, Daria. But you can’t feed grown men with such dishes. This menu is more for a children’s table
Answer: Anna, yes, this menu is suitable for my family: me, my husband and three daughters.

Marina: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:42 am

This month I specifically started saving and counting. In our family there are 2 adults, 2 children and 1 child on breastfeeding. It took 10 thousand rubles. (the month is not over yet)
I was shocked!!!
I used the tips from the article: buy groceries according to the list once a month, go to the store less often, do not go to the store with children.
We are now in a transition period for a healthy diet (since the average person has severe allergies) We do not buy: dairy products, meat (only homemade from the village), white bread, pastries (only homemade), sweets
Answer: Marina, just great for a start, you are on the right track. If you have any questions, write to me, I will be glad to help and tell you in more detail how and what I do.

Tatiana: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:41 am

THANKS A LOT!!!

Marina: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:38 am

Daria, thank you! what do the children do at home? How do you manage to work?
Answer: Marina, my husband and I alternate :) He also works from home. He takes care of the children, I work. If he works, then I take care of the children. Older children already play with each other a lot, and this is a big advantage of a small age difference.

Tatiana: | January 29th, 2016 | 8:27 am

Not bad! The protein is well balanced almost all days, varied and not much in volume. We have two competitive athletes in our family; we spend three times as much on fish, meat, milk and cottage cheese. But it turns out boring and monotonous. I really liked the menu color, texture, shape.
Answer: Tatiana, thank you! :)

Which dishes should be included in the menu and which ones should you avoid? What do nutritionists advise?

“During the cold period of the year, the body requires more calories, which it needs not for playing in the fresh air or swimming in the river, but for heating its own body,” says nutritionist Alexey Dobrovolsky. - Fresh fruits, vegetables and grass will definitely not keep you warm. So follow your instincts... What do you usually want after a walk in the fresh, frosty air? Of course, not cold okroshka, but some hot rich soup, high-calorie goulash, piping hot cutlets, lard with garlic... As a drink - hot tea, warm compote or a warming cocktail.

The late autumn and winter diet should contain fatty meat foods. Don't give up on vegetables and fruits either - after the New Year there will be almost no vitamins left in them, so try to lean on them now. Add vegetables to soups, prepare a warm vegetable saute as a side dish for meat, and then nothing will threaten your figure.

German eintopf or Uzbek shurpa?

Soup is something you can’t do without during the cold season. It should be hot, thick and preferably a little spicy, so that the feeling of warmth will settle inside you for a long time. According to statistics, Russian housewives most often prepare borscht, cabbage soup from fresh cabbage and chicken noodles (by the way, chicken broth is an excellent remedy for colds!).

In the summer, okroshka with mushroom mushroom is introduced into this top three, and in winter, rassolnik, solyanka and pea. For some reason, other types of soups are not so popular in our country. And in vain - try to cook some new soup for your family, and they will certainly appreciate it.

Armenian rich khash, Hungarian goulash soup, German thick eintopf, Vietnamese chicken pho - there are many options for warming soups in world cuisine. For example, in eastern, Muslim countries, rich soups with meat broths such as shurpa, shorba, sorpa or chorba are especially popular.

For example, to prepare shurpa-kavurma, sauté 200 g of onion in a saucepan, then add 700 g of coarsely chopped lamb or beef and fry the pieces of meat thoroughly. Then add 300 g of chopped tomatoes, bell peppers and carrots, season the soup with classic Uzbek seasoning - 1 tbsp. spoon of cumin, pour boiling water over everything and simmer for half an hour. Then add 700 g of coarsely chopped potatoes, add the required amount of water and cook until the potatoes are ready. At the very end, add 3 tbsp to the soup. spoons of tomato paste, 2 crushed cloves of garlic and let the dish sit for at least half an hour. If you put rice instead of potatoes, you will get a type of shurpa called “mastava”.

Pot, cook!

One pot meals are another great option for a warming fall/winter meal. It is convenient to cook in a clay dish, it is beautiful to serve on the table, and besides, the dishes in it turn out incredibly tasty and very healthy. True, for culinary success you need to know some of the subtleties of working with clay pots, otherwise the porridge will run away, the potatoes won’t cook and the meat won’t cause the expected delight.

One of the important rules for cooking dishes in pots: if you add sauerkraut, put a lot of tomatoes, pour in vinegar or lemon juice - in general, you create an acidic environment, add root vegetables (potatoes, Jerusalem artichoke, beets, turnips, radishes) almost ready or not at all refuse, otherwise they will not be cooked and will be half-baked. In everything else there are no restrictions!

In a pot you can cook fish, meat, vegetables and even make a sweet dessert. If you are just starting to master earthenware, cook a classic of the genre in it - roast meat with mushrooms. This is a classic, win-win option, because any, even the toughest beef, turns out tender after a long simmer. Pork in pots also turns out incredibly tasty. You can fry the ingredients separately in advance and then put them in a vessel, or simplify the task and fill it with raw ingredients.

First, place the meat in cubes on one third of the pot, salt it thoroughly, pepper it and make a layer of grated carrots and onions (for piquancy, add a little bacon or smoked pork ribs). Then add chopped mushrooms (preferably white, but champignons can also be used) and potatoes.

Pour sour cream or cream and a small amount of cold boiled water over everything. Then put the pots in the oven, set the temperature to 160°C and forget about them for a couple of hours. You can speed up the process by setting the temperature in the cabinet to 220°C, but then it will no longer be classic simmering.

You can cook any soup in portioned pots, but more often they are used for impressive serving. Moreover, the pot can be closed with a bread lid.

To make it, you usually use puff pastry or yeast dough (the second is less preferable due to its fluffy volume), which is rolled out in a thin layer and cut out into a circle or square. Then the flatbread must be greased on both sides with egg: on the back it acts as glue, on the front it gives a beautiful, crispy surface.

Heat the dish in a pot with dough at 160°C until it is covered with a golden crust. The person tasting it must break it so that the pieces fall directly into the dish, or cut it off and eat it instead of bread - a freshly prepared flatbread, saturated with the aromas of food, turns out very tasty.

Dish in bread

The soup can be served not only in a plate or pot, but also in bread, as is customary, for example, in traditional Czech cuisine. Most often, specially prepared round rye bread is used, but you can also take Borodino or ready-made rye loaf with strong crusts. True, before pouring soup into them, you need to remove the pulp, and then dry the bread pan in the oven for at least 10 minutes. And it’s better to fill it not with liquid borscht or cabbage soup, which will instantly saturate the crusts and the “pot” may fall apart, but with puree soup. For example, goulash, thick cheese or cream of mushroom soup look great in bread.

Cottage cheese or porridge?

If in the summer yogurt or cottage cheese was an excellent option for breakfast, now it is advisable to switch to porridge. During the cold period, it is better that warm food enters the body in the morning. When you decide to cook porridge, first wash the cereal (except buckwheat, oatmeal and semolina). Rice, millet and pearl barley are first washed with warm (up to 40°C) and then with hot water. The first removes starch and dirt from the surface of the grain, the second removes fat that appears during storage and steams the grain. Then all types of porridge (except buckwheat) are placed in boiling water.

If you want to cook porridge with milk, it is better to bring it until half cooked, drain the liquid and add the same amount of milk. For the last 5 minutes, the porridge is cooked over low heat (except for semolina, which is cooked for only 1-3 minutes) so that the cereal has time to swell. Add sugar at the very beginning, but do not overuse it. And don’t be lazy to experiment with additives to make the porridge more interesting - boil it with raisins, sprinkle with nuts, fresh strawberries, candied fruits, seeds, serve with cherry jam.

Buckwheat porridge is considered the healthiest - it is rich in vitamins and minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and especially iron) and improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. In second place is oatmeal, and rice porridge closes the top three most healthy porridges and is a good “energy” boost. However, you should not give up other types of porridge - semolina, pearl barley, millet.

It’s also very good to mix different grains - in such a dish the beneficial properties of grains are combined, and a new taste is obtained. By the way, the most famous recipe for porridge mix was invented by A.V. Suvorov, when, during a difficult crossing through the Alps, he was informed that the soldiers were suffering from malnutrition and were freezing from the cold. He ordered that all the few food supplies (barley, millet, peas and a few vegetables) be collected and boiled in a common cauldron. As a result, the army received a nutritious porridge, which was called “Suvorov”.

Roast, stew, bigos

Meat with potatoes, cabbage, vegetables, with or without sour cream... Well, what could be better during the cold season? In Polish, Belarusian and Lithuanian cuisines there is a dish called “bigos”. In ancient times, it was prepared during royal hunts, and then they began to make it at home, putting fresh and sauerkraut, different types of meat, lard, homemade sausages, smoked meats, mushrooms and a dozen other ingredients in a pot. There are countless variations of bigos, but the dish always turns out thick and satisfying. First, sauté the onion, then add 400 g of sauerkraut, 3 tbsp. spoons of tomato paste and simmer for about an hour.

In a separate frying pan, fry 200 g of different types of meat (the more there is, the tastier the bigos will be): bacon, smoked sausage, beef, pork. Then mix everything, add 400 g of chopped fresh cabbage and a little bell pepper, tomatoes, apples and porcini mushrooms. Pour the mixture with wine, salt and pepper, place in pots and cook in the oven for at least two hours at 160°C. After this, bigos can be served immediately, but it is better to cool it, keep it in the freezer overnight and only then serve - the sauerkraut in the Polish dish will become much tastier.

Pate

Delicious fatty pate will perfectly warm and satiate. Of course, you can buy it, but it’s better to prepare it yourself from fresh ingredients. Preparing pate is not difficult at all. First, chop 250 g of onions and carrots and fry them in vegetable oil. Then randomly chop 0.5 kg of beef or chicken liver and add it to the pan. Simmer everything together until cooked and add 250 g of butter. As soon as the fat has melted, remove the mixture from the heat, season it with salt and black pepper and grind everything in a blender. For a beautiful presentation, the finished pate can be placed in small shaped molds (can be used for cookies) in the form of bunnies, fish or hearts and put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. This spectacular pate can be offered to a child or served for a holiday.

Cocktails

Mulled wine, punch, grog, Mexican coffee, hot mojito - there are a lot of options for warming cocktails. Dark rum, cognac, whiskey and wine are considered ideal alcohol for hot cocktails. You can also make strong drinks based on dry clear alcohol - gin or tequila, but only together with fruit liqueurs. But vodka is an undesirable “guest”; it has enough warming strength, but there is absolutely no aroma. In addition to alcohol, a hot cocktail should contain fruits - primarily citrus fruits, which contain fragrant essential oils, vitamins and sourness necessary to achieve the right taste.

It’s not difficult to prepare classic mulled wine: for one serving you will need 150 ml of dry red wine, 30 g of honey, several large apple and orange pieces, two sprigs of cloves and a cinnamon stick. Mix all the ingredients and heat over low heat in a Turk, remembering to stir so that the honey does not stick to the bottom and is completely dissolved. Pour the finished mulled wine, along with spices and fruits, into a glass glass with thick walls.

Beer soup with cheese and bacon

Ingredients:

Dark beer - 1 l
Bacon - 200 g
Grated cheese - 100 g
Brown bread - 6-7 slices
Garlic - 3 cloves
Green onions - 4 feathers
Butter - 80 g
Flour - 50 g
Yolks - 2 pcs.
Milk - 100 ml
Mustard - 2 tbsp. l.

Pour the beer into a bowl and leave for 1 hour.

Lightly fry the flour in a saucepan, then add oil and stir. Pour in beer and bring to a boil.

Add fried bacon and grated cheese to the soup. Wait until the cheese melts.

Beat eggs with milk. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour in the mixture in a thin stream, stirring.

Crush the garlic with salt and mustard. Cut the bread slices into cubes, coat them with the garlic mixture and fry on the grill or frying pan.

Pour the finished soup into a plate, put garlic croutons on top and garnish the dish with chopped onions.

Hungarian goulash

Ingredients:

Beef - 600 g
Potatoes - 600 g
Onions - 2-3 pcs.
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Bell pepper - 1 pc.
Hot pepper - 1 pod
Cumin - 1 tsp.
Sweet paprika - 3 tbsp. l.
Vegetable oil - for frying

How to cook:

Clean the meat from veins, cut into pieces and fry in vegetable oil.

Add diced onions, fry and add cumin and garlic.

Cut the bell pepper into strips, potatoes into medium cubes.

Add pepper to the meat and onions, then paprika.

Pour boiling water or hot vegetable broth. When it boils, add potatoes and hot peppers cut into rings without seeds. Add salt.

Close the lid, reduce heat and simmer until fully cooked, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and let the dish sit for another half hour.

Chicken pate with red wine jelly

Ingredients:

Chicken liver - 300 g
Butter - 50 g
Onions - 80 g
Carrots - 160 g
White bread - 60 g
Port (or any dry red wine) - 750 ml
Gelatin - 13 g
Cream 35% - 160 g
Egg white - 1 pc.
Orange zest - 15 g
Sugar - 50 g
Salt, nutmeg, rosemary - to taste

How to cook:

Melt half the butter in a frying pan and fry the chicken liver until fully cooked.

In another frying pan, fry the chopped onions and carrots in the remaining oil. Add three tablespoons of port, evaporate it, pour in the cream, add bread, nutmeg, rosemary, salt and sugar to taste. Leave on medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring.

Soak 3 g of gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes. Add it, already soaked, to the pan with the vegetable mixture and turn off the heat and let cool. Add protein and mix.

Place chicken liver and vegetable mixture in a blender and blend.

Pour all the remaining port into a saucepan and evaporate it by two-thirds over medium heat. Add 50 g of sugar, orange zest, boil for 5 minutes and add the remaining soaked gelatin. Turn off the heat and strain through a sieve, cool.

Place the pate in a dish, pour wine jelly over it and let it harden in the refrigerator.

Mushroom puree soup in bread

Ingredients:

Mushrooms - 400 g
Onions - 2 pcs.
Flour - 2 tbsp. l.
Cream - 200 ml
Butter - 100 g
Garlic - 4 cloves
Salt, ground black pepper, nutmeg - to taste
Bread - 4 loaves

How to cook:

Melt butter, fry chopped onions and chopped mushrooms. If you use wild mushrooms, it is better to first boil them in salted water.

Add cream and flour, stir. Add seasonings and salt. If the soup is too thick, you can dilute it with milk.

Cut off the top of the round bread and scoop out the pulp from the bread. Rub the inside of each bread plate with garlic. Dry the bread in an oven preheated to 200°C for 10 minutes.

Pour the prepared cream soup into bread plates and serve.

Spanish stew "Fabada"

Ingredients:

White beans - 750 g
Smoked sausages (ideally chorizo) - 3 pcs.
Blood sausages - 3 pcs.
Bacon - 1-2 strips
Smoked pork knuckle - 150-200 g
Onions - 1 pc.
Garlic - clove
Salt, saffron - to taste

How to cook:

Soak the beans overnight. In the morning, drain the water and pour cold water over the beans so that it covers the beans. Place the pan over medium heat.

When the water boils, remove the foam, add sausages, meat, onion and garlic to the pan. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are cooked through and tender.

Add salt and saffron to taste. Allow the dish to steep before serving. By the way, the next day after preparing the fabada it will infuse and become even tastier.

Roast beef with potatoes

Ingredients:

Beef - 500 g
Potatoes - 500 g
Onions - 1-2 pcs.
Carrots - 1 pc.
Garlic - 2-3 cloves
Vegetable oil - for frying
Paprika - 1 tsp.
Salt, pepper - to taste
Green onions - a few feathers

How to cook:

Wash the potatoes, peel them, cut them into medium cubes.

Peel the beef from the films and cut into the same cubes as potatoes. Cut carrots into rings.

Heat vegetable oil in a saucepan, fry chopped onion and garlic in it.

Add meat, fry until golden brown. Put carrots.

Add water, salt, spices, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, close the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add potatoes and simmer until all ingredients are fully cooked. Garnish with chopped green onions.