Article by Roy Primm

Free soul food recipes continues to adapt to a demanding health conscious consumer. With the holidays on us, this is the time experts predict the average person will pack on 3 to 5 pounds. Not only will they gain 3 to 5 pounds, but they will keep and even add to it for the rest of the year. This is an alarming statistic in a country where the following statistics from the Center For Disease Control (C.D.C) hits home.

Free soul food recipes continues to adapt to a demanding health conscious consumer. With the holidays on us, this is the time experts predict the average person will pack on

The post Free Soul Food Recipes: Getting More User Friendly For The Holidays appeared first on Catering on the Move.

Free soul food recipes are moving toward the end of this year leaner, healthier and with less calories than in previous years. To meet the growing demand for more user-friendlier dishes, more websites are offering recipes with healthier ingredients. This is in response to a growing need for changes in the preparation and cooking methods of soul food recipes. The popular southern cuisine has had the dubious reputation of having large amounts of calories, salt and fat, despite  glorious taste southern food is known for. The race is now on among restaurants, manufacturers and  recipe publishers on who can make healthy soul food recipes that taste good. Because of – or despite the recession,  more people are more aware of their diet and what they put in their bodies.

Large numbers of consumers love this popular southern food, but not the unhealthy ingredients associated with the traditional way it’s cooked or prepared.  The large amounts of fat and calories it contains has also worked to keep much of the younger generation at away, as well as the older generation. These two groups represent one of the larger potentials for growth, but they represent the health conscious segment of the market.  This group loves the taste of southern cooking, but has a need to eat healthy and lighter than what traditional soul food is known for.

This demand has given most free soul food recipe sites the opportunity to meet the needs of one of the fastest growing segments of an emerging market. The healthy soul food market continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This has caused many publishers to rush in to fill this growing need with healthy recipes that also taste good. These changes are expected to expand in the coming year as more people move toward healthier soul food cooking.

The post Free Soul Food Recipes: How Recession Has Changed Them appeared first on Catering on the Move.

Free soul food recipe sites are quickly becoming the new financial secret weapon  for  families seeking to stretch their food budget dollars.  With the cost of eating out rising fast despite the recession, more people are choosing or being forced by economic conditions to eat more meals at home.  It’s estimated a family of four can save over 50% of their food cost by cooking and eating more meals at home as opposed to eating out.

Free soul food recipe sites continue to serve the needs of the growing numbers of consumers trying to stretch their food cost. The cost of food is the third highest expense for most families, after housing and transportation cost.  Southern cooking has a long and storied reputation of sticking to the ribs or staying with a person longer than other foods. This is an added benefit when a family is trying to get the most out of their food dollars. Soul food recipes contain ingredients that’s reasonably easy to find which makes the cost economical and incredibly affordable to most people.

Southern inspired dishes such as collard greens, black eyed peas, red beans,  cornbread, candied yams are just a few of the more popular recipes people use to stretch the budgets. These items and other similar recipes have a reputation of giving people a full feeling that last longer more than most dishes.  By taking advantage of the many free soul food recipe sites many families are saving hundreds of dollars a month off their food budgets. Many sites offer user-friendly recipes for the beginning cooks as well as unique recipes that keeps the interest of the advanced cook.

With the increase in traffic more websites are introducing instructional videos along with the recipes to make preparing the meals easier for visitors. This helps to make the cooking learning curve shorter and less painful for beginning cooks.

The post Free Soul Food Recipes: Secret Weapon For Budget Minded Consumers appeared first on Catering on the Move.

The cost of eating out continues to increase as restaurant owners pass higher food cost and overhead on to cash strapped customers. With the economic outlook growing more risky by the minute, more people with a craving for southern food are turning to the many free soul food recipes available online.

Soul food, considered one of the original American foods, dates back to the time of slavery when slave owners gave the food they couldn’t or wouldn’t eat to the slaves. This food ironically turned out to be some of the healthiest foods, judged by today’s standards.

Most of the food consisted of green vegetables (known as greens), turnips, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, corn pone, and more. To survive the long and often hot work days in the sizzling sun, the black worker required food that was not only cheap in cost but filling and nutritious. Soul food provided the needed energy slaves needed to work the long hours.

Today soul food is a multi-million dollar food industry and growing. Now online sites offering free soul food recipes continue to rise. This is evidence of the growing popularity and demand for ways to cook soul food by a demanding market. Some of the more popular soul food dishes such as collard greens, black eye peas and gumbo have had a resurgence in popularity by young people, a group that had overlooked soul food for hamburgers, pizza and other fast foods.

]]>

Popular southern recipe desserts such as sweet potato pie, peach cobbler and sock-it-to-me cake have also grown in popularity by at-home cooks. Not only are soul food recipes growing in demand by new-school cooks, but also preparation techniques, shortcuts and time-saving kitchen tools experienced serious growth in the past six months.

Not only has the bad economy influenced more people to eat more meals at home, but the need people have for home cooked meals that are healthy and nutritious have increased. With the growing problem of obesity facing more people, along with diabetes and high blood pressure, more people are taking their health and diets into their own hands by preparing more meals at home.

More soul food lovers are taking to preparing their meals and taking them to work instead of going to a restaurant. This has been estimated to save many people hundreds of dollars a month. In addition, it’s more notorious as well.

With the popularity of video, more free soul food recipe sites are offering video demonstrations to site visitors. This adds more clarity to preparing the recipes, offering a show-and- tell element for cooks to enjoy. Indeed these soul food sites are not your grandmothers recipe sites.

Yes, with the popularity of home cooking and soul food combined, the demand for free soul food recipes will continue to grow as the economy worsens. People are constantly looking for more ways to cut their food cost. More families are finding the best way slash their food cost is to prepare more meals at home instead of paying others to prepare it at restaurants.

The post Soul Food Recipes: Recession Forcing More Healthier Home Cooking appeared first on Catering on the Move.

Free soul food recipes,  with it’s tradition of southern flavor and satisfaction, is making a comeback among African American teens. In the past this traditional southern cuisine had  fallen out of favor with many teens thanks to the fast food movement, the fact that people cooked less and because it was stylish to eat out. But now thanks to the recession, less discretionary income and the need to save, more teens are rediscovering soul food recipes all over again.

Yes, thanks to the economic downturn more families are forced to cook and eat at home and more and less at fast food establishments. In addition, the movement and trend seems to be toward eating healthier, home cooked meals at the dinner table again.  Family dinner time is slowly making a comeback. All these factors seem to have  fuel the popularity of soul food recipes to teens again, much like their baby boom parents and grandparents.

]]>

For example, surprisingly many teens are tasting black eye peas, candied yams and hush puppies for the first time. And those who aren’t tasting them for the first time is seeing them and other traditional soul food in a whole new light.

This cuisine is also growing in popularity among teens as it adjust to new eating habits many teens are now moving to. A healthier food that taste good.  With southern fried chicken, peach cobbler and sweet potato pie among the top 3 favorite foods among African American teens today.  The industry have found creative ways to make these popular dishes healthier while maintaining the taste.

Another major influence on teens and soul food recipes is the hip hop movement. For example, you can hear  many hip hop stars mentioning soul food in their lyrics, showing it in their videos and eating it themselves with great delight.  These combination of factors have joined to make soul food cooking and eating popular again with African American teens.

But a new market is looming on the horizon as well, what is this new market? White and Latino teens are slowly discovering soul food recipes, thanks again to the hip hop industry. Many non-African American consumers are joining. Some of the new converts are joining  out of curiosity, others out of a need to try new experiences in food. But most are trying it because of African American friends introducing them to this popular southern cuisine.  Could soul food cooking  play a major role in uniting the cultural divide. Stay tuned.

The post Soul Food Recipes: Appealing To More Teens? appeared first on Catering on the Move.

Soul food recipes have grown into the one of the fastest growing cuisines today.  Perhaps because of the comfort food feeling it gives. For example, the robust flavors,  the in your face seasonings or the decadent desserts. Whatever the reason, traditional soul food recipes continue to stand the test of time, despite the criticisms for its high  calorie, sodium and fat content  recipes.

Like all classic cuisines, soul food continues to adapt to the changing needs of the consumer. Now with more consumers demanding healthier recipes and ingredients,  the recipes have started to adapt to this growing consumer need.  As a result more soul food restaurants, books and websites are seeing and acknowledging this fast growing trend.

Now you can find tasty soul food recipes that contain no artery clogging fat back, ham hocks or bacon as a seasoning for vegetables. Now you’ll see recipes calling for smoked turkey, which contain up to 95% less fat than ham hocks, fat back or bacon.  You can even find recipes that call for less or even  no table salt to flavor recipes. Instead you’ll find recipes calling for kosher or sea salt, which contain less sodium content.

]]>

These new changes have won applause from medical experts, health officials as well as consumers.  The biggest hurdle the soul food recipes movement have had to overcome is winning hard boiled traditional soul food lovers over.  Many were concerned changing from traditional seasoning to healthier seasonings would change the taste of the soul food recipes. But taste continues to convince more traditional soul food lovers they can eat healthier without sacrificing the taste they’ve grown accustomed to.

Soul food recipes continue to change for the better – and the healthier, as the industry continues to raise the bar on tastier recipes without the health risks of the past.  The healthier changes come from reduced fat content,  lower sodium and less cholesterol content.

Many health experts find these new changes excellent choices.  More consumers are coming back to this popular southern cuisine who previously left it for health concerns.  The biggest challenge was making sure the  taste and satisfaction soul food is known for remained. One of the assumptions when thinking healthier is less taste.  But thanks to creative cooks,  healthier and tastier is the result of the new changes taking place with today’s soul food recipes.

Lighter and more natural seasonings is the order of the day that has made soul food recipes more health friendly. We’ll continue to keep you informed of more healthier changes that take place in the future. Stay tuned.

The post Soul Food Recipes: Latest Ways Soul Food Recipes Are Changing For The Better appeared first on Catering on the Move.