Tips For Healthy Holiday Eating

When the holidays arrive, many people forget all
about their diets and healthy eating. Weight
gains of 7 - 10 pounds are common between
Halloween and Christmas. To make the holidays
easier, these tips will help you with healthy
eating through the season and not gaining weight.

Most traditional foods can be made low fat.
Turkey is very lean without the skin, and gravy
can be made without any fat. Potatoes that are
served without butter can be very healthy. The
beloved pumpkin pie is nutritious, although it
can be made into a fatty dessert with the adding
of whipped cream.

Even though the holidays are in, don’t forget
about the exercise. Keeping weight off during
the holiday season is burning off the extra
calories. You should plan a walk after meals,
park farther from stores when you shop, and
take a few walks around the mall before you
begin shopping.

During holiday parties and at family dinners,
feel free to sample foods although you shouldn’t
splurge. Decide on what you plan to eat in
advance, then stick to your plan. Eat plenty
of vegetables, fruit, low fat dressings, and
slices of lean meats. Before you go to a party,
eat a small snack to help curb your appetite.

If at all possible, avoid alcohol. Having too
many drinks can cripple your will power, and
also add excess calories to your diet. In the
place of alcohol, drink water with lemon. Water
can help to limit your appetite and keep you
from binging. Also make sure to avoid eggnog,
as each glass can have up to 300 calories.

Be flexible with your healthy eating, as one bad
meal won’t ruin your diet. Try to balance your
calories over a few days and don’t just look at
one meal or day.

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Trouble Free Cooking?

Believe it or not, trouble free cooking is a common desire around the world. Even those among us who love cooking and eating almost equally will be the first to confess that being able to cook without the worry of creating a mess, spilling, or burning would be a blessing. Truthfully speaking there really is no such thing as trouble free cooking though there are things you can do that will take a good deal of trouble out of your cooking.

Most of the tips here will be beneficial to novice or beginners in the culinary arts however, there are some great refresher tips for those who are more experienced when it comes to cooking as well. Hopefully you will learn some things through the next few paragraphs or at least remember some things you had forgotten.

First of all, cleaning as you go will take a lot of the trouble out of what comes after the cooking. When asked the least favorite thing about cooking a wide margin of women proclaim without a second of hesitation that the clean up by far is the worst thing about cooking. To make things easier, clean as you go. Keep a sink of hot sudsy water ready to go the entire time you are cooking and wipe up any spills that occur immediately to avoid sticky messes that are much more difficult to clean afterwards. You should also note that if you transfer your food to serving dishes and immediately wash your pots and pans they will be much easier to clean than if the food is allowed to sit in them while your family dines.

My best friend is constantly burning her dinners. The reason? She believes in high or low when it comes to cooking and there is nothing in between. Very few meals should be cooked on high truth be told. You are much better off to begin the food preparation at a medium or medium high temperature and to adjust accordingly.

Make sure your oven is preheated. The temperature of the oven does indeed make a difference in the cooking process. While there are those that believe preheating is a simple waste of electricity it is what is required in order to achieve the optimal results when cooking. Most modern electric ovens will signal when the proper temperature has been achieved.

Select recipes that fall within your comfort zone in order to avoid making mistakes or becoming too stressed about the cooking process. Once you’ve decided on your recipe read it through a couple of times in order to be certain that you not only understand all the steps involved but also have all the necessary ingredients before beginning.

Wash your hands thoroughly and wash your hands often. Remember the sink of sudsy water I mentioned above? You’ll want to use it quite frequently in order to wash any surface, cutting board, plate, or utensil that has come into contact with raw meat in order to avoid cross contamination. The same holds true for your hands.

While to some degree these tips may seem a bit simplistic, when it comes to trouble free cooking there really is no such thing. The more you do to make the cooking process seem as effortless as possible the more trouble free your cooking will really be.

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Tips For Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is a way of balancing the food you
eat to keep your body in great health. With healthy
eating, you’ll have energy all day, get the vitamins
and minerals you need, stay strong for activities
you enjoy, and maintain a healthy weight.

Below, you’ll find tips designed to help you with
healthy eating.

1. Don’t skip any meals
Eating 3 meals with snacks in between is the ideal
way to maintain both energy and a healthy weight.
When you skip meals and get hungry, you’re more
than likely to choose foods that aren’t very good
for you.

If you are eating away from home, take food with
you or know where you can buy healthy food from.

2. Learn about how to prepare foods
Instead of deep frying, try grilling, stir frying,
microwaving, baking, and even boiling. You should
also try fresh or even dried herbs and spices to
add flavor to your food. Before you eat any type
of meat, be sure to trim the fat and skin off of
it.

3. Avoid a lot of sugar
Drinks that contain sugar are a major source of
empty energy. What this means, is that the drinks
contain a lot of energy that your body may not
need, and it doesn’t contain any vitamins or
minerals. If you plan to drink sugary drinks,
don’t go overboard - limit yourself to 1 a day.

4. Avoid thinking about diets
There are no good food nor any bad foods. All
food can be a part of a healthy diet, when eaten
in moderation. You don’t need to buy any low
carb, fat free, or even diet foods, as these foods
normally have lots of other added ingredients
to replaces the carbohydrates or fat.

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The Wonderful Tools of Cooking

Far too often people overlook the importance of using the proper tools when cooking fine meals. While there is nothing in the world that can quite compare to cooking with the finest and freshest of ingredients, these things can only be enhanced by making use of the perfect tools for the job at hand.

When it comes to pots and pans and skillets you should keep in mind that conductivity is of extreme importance. You should also select pots and pans that are made of a heavier gauge. This allows your pans to heat evenly avoiding hot spots, which can lead to food that may ’stick’ to your pan or scorch during the cooking process. This means that simply stopping in at your local mass market retailer and purchasing any old set of pots and pans is probably not the best course of action for the best possible quality in your kitchen.

Kitchen knives are also important ingredients in the kitchens of today. If you plan to prepare many meals in your kitchen, then the quality of your knives is of the utmost importance. Your knives are an investment you shouldn’t have to make too often in your lifetime. For this reason, select a really good set and be prepared to make a sizeable investment in your knives. You will never understand, unless you’ve tried to prepare foods with knives of inferior quality, just how important it is to purchase good quality and well-balanced knives for your kitchen. You should also try the handles in your hand to see how comfortable they feel before purchasing a set of knives. If you do a lot of chopping and cutting during your meal preparation and cooking you will want to make sure that the knives you are using feel comfortable in your hands.

If you are like me and plan on cooking a great deal of meat then you should also invest in a jacquard. This useful tool helps not only when it comes to tenderizing rather rough and tumble cuts of meat but also pierces the surface so that rubs and marinades can penetrate for a more flavorful experience. This is by far one of my favorite kitchen gadgets and it isn’t a sizeable investment for the added value it provides to meals.

A good quality grater is another tool that no kitchen should be complete without. There are many who feel that with all the pre shredded cheese products on the market today this tool is obsolete but nothing could be further from the truth. First of all, pre grated and pre packaged cheese simply doesn’t touch the quality of flavor that freshly grated cheese provides. Second, cheese isn’t the only thing that these graters are useful for grating. Graters are excellent tools for grating citrus fruits, spices, garlic, chocolate, and even onions. If you do a good deal of baking in addition to your cooking you should not overlook the value of having a quality grater in your kitchen.

Of course there are many more cooking tools than I could possibly mention here. Those mentioned above simply happen to be among my personal favorites. There are all kinds of appliances that in my humble opinion no kitchen is truly complete without. In addition to these great appliances there are many tools that are simple matters of preference. Do you peel enough potatoes to warrant a special device for doing so or do you simply opt to purchase an ergonomically designed potato peeler and peel them by hand? There are no one size fits all answers when it comes to kitchen tools and many of us are often limited by serious budget constraints and restrictions. My best advice if this is the situation for you is to purchase the best possible quality you can afford and build from there. Even if it means replacing one pot or knife at a time until you can manage a complete set of superior quality cooking tools you will find it well worth the price you’ve paid in the long run.

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Southern Cooking Brings Soul to Food

I was born and raised in the heart of the Deep South. From as far back as I can remember I remember long summer afternoons spent drinking iced tea and shelling peas and butterbeans on my grandmother’s porch. I have moved on from my roots and have made my way into other regions of the world. One thing, however, that has remained constant in my life is my deep and abiding love for southern cooking and cuisine.

I was probably well into my teen years before I realized that tea could be served any other way than loaded with sugar and over ice. It was about that same time that I realized some folks would eat vegetables that hadn’t been soaked in batter, dredged in cornmeal, and deep fat fried. Southern cooking is not for the faint of heart though it can cause many hearts to grow faint. One thing that can be said is that you’ll never find anything else like it on earth.

People in the south learned to make do with little in many instances. Some of the poorest people in America live in the southern part of the country. Of course, you will find that many of these people despite their poverty are also among the most generous. The same can be said of food. It’s the one thing that seems to be in ample supply in most southern homes and very few will turn you away with an empty stomach.

Perhaps it’s the seasonings that are often used when cooking southern food. From the crab boil and gumbo file of Cajun Cuisine to the secret ingredient that almost every southern kitchen contains for their fried chicken recipes (and no one on earth can fry chicken like a born and bred southern grandma). Perhaps it’s the Sunday church dinners where everyone shares a little of what they have with others or the love that goes into preparing these meals that are shared with friends and family. Whatever the case may be, if you ever have the occasion to experience real southern cooking, do not pass it up. You might shave a day off your life, but a good southern fried chicken leg is really living and well worth the sacrifice if you ask me.

Of course it would be remiss to mention southern cooking without bringing up some of the more delicious desserts that seem to be perfection for the south. I mentioned banana pudding above but there are so many more. Pralines are a perfect for those living down around New Orleans as is bread pudding. A little to the east there are grandma’s who have taken their lemon icebox pie recipes to the grave with them so coveted were these delicious deserts and the same holds true for pecan pies as well. We should never forget the flavorful Mississippi Mud cake though, and so many other wonderfully delicious treats that southern cooking has introduced to the world at large.

Favorite vegetables in the heart of the south as I mentioned above included peas and butterbeans, snap beans, corn, summer squash (after all, it’s summer all year in the south), and okra (fried or boiled in many southern kitchens). Not all vegetables were deep fried though few were off limits. I remember eating my share of fried okra, fried squash, and yes, fried green tomatoes. Life was good back when calories weren’t counted and no one really worried about clogging arteries. While I wouldn’t make these a daily dish in any household, I certainly would recommend trying them out if you ever find the opportunity.

Another great thing about southern cooking is the wonderful fried seafood that seems to abound. From fried fish (almost any variety works well when it’s southern fried) to fried oysters, seafood just seems to taste so much better in the south. If you are hoping to learn some of the southern cooking and cuisine you will most likely need to order your spices and have them shipped unless your grocery store has a rather extensive ‘exotic’ foods selection. You can sometimes find great southern seasonings on the International food aisles in grocery stores as well. If you want to really treat your family to an outstanding meal, you should really try southern cooking for the night.

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The Healthiest Foods You Can Get

The following is a list of the healthiest foods that
you can get. This will help you get an idea as
to what foods are the best for your body.

Fruits

Apricots
Apricots contain Beta-carotene which helps to
prevent radical damage and also helps to protect
the eyes. A single apricot contains 17 calories,
0 fat, and one gram of fiber. You can eat them
dried or soft.

Mango
A medium sized mango packs 57 MG of vitamin C,
which is nearly your entire daily dose. This
antioxidant will help prevent arthritis and also
boost your immune system.

Cantaloupe
Cantaloupes contain 117 GG of vitamin C, which is
almost twice the recommended dose. Half a melon
contains 853 MG of potassium, which is nearly
twice as much as a banana, which helps to lower
blood pressure. Half a melon contains 97 calories,
1 gram of fat, and 2 grams of fiber.

Tomato
A tomato can help cut the risk of bladder, stomach,
and colon cancers in half if you eat one daily.
A tomaton contains 26 calories, 0 fat, and only
1 gram of fiber.

Vegetables

Onions
An onion can help to protect against cancer. A
cup of onions offers 61 calories, 0 fat, and 3
grams of fiber.

Broccoli
Broccoli can help protect against breast cancer,
and it also contains a lot of vitamin C and beta-
carotene. One cup of chopped broccoli contains
25 calories, 0 fat, and 3 grams of fiber.

Spinach
Spinach contains carotenoids that can help fend
off macular degeneration, which is a major cause
of blindness in older people. One cup contains
7 calories, 0 fat, and 1 gram of fiber.

Grains, beans, and nuts

Peanuts
Peanuts and other nuts can lower your risk of
heart disease by 20 percent. One ounce contains
166 calories, 14 grams of fat, and over 2 grams of
fiber.

Pinto beans
A half cut of pinto beans offers more than 25
percent of your daily folate requirement, which
protects you against heart disease. Half a cup
contains 103 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 6 grams
of fiber.

Skim milk
Skim milk offers vitamin B2, which is important for
good vision and along with Vitamin A could improve
allergies. You also get calcium and vitamin D as
well. One cup contains 86 calories, o fat, and 0
fiber.

Seafood

Salmon
All cold water fish such as salmon, mackerel, and
tuna are excellent sources of omega 3 fatty acids,
which help to reduce the risk of cardiac disease.
A 3 ounce portion of salmon contains 127 calories,
4 grams of fat, and 0 fiber.

Crab
Crab is a great source of vitamin B12 and immunity
boosting zinc. A 3 ounce serving of crab offers
84 calories, 1 gram of fat, and 0 fiber.

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Nutrition For The Elderly

Healthy eating and nutrition for the elderly is
greatly impacted by several factors, one of them
being a change in body composition. During the
later years in life, the body will lose bone and
muscle and gain fat because the hormones aren’t
very active anymore.

There are many factors which hinder an elderly
person’s health. The information below will help
you to lead a healthy life - no matter how old you
may be.

Water
Water in the body decreases with age, so many older
folks will become dehydrated very easily. Sometimes
they won’t feel thirsty, while other times it’s
too much work to pour a glass a water. With this
in mind, it’s recommended that they drink at least
1 ounce of water for every 2.2 pounds of weight.

Protein
At this stage in life, protein is very important.
Protein is needed to support a healthy immune
system and prevent the wasting of muscle. Since
energy needs are less, older folks should eat high
quality protein such as eggs, lean meats, poulty,
and fish.

Carbs and fiber
Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for
the entire body. You can find carbs in bread,
cereals, pasta, and other grain products. A diet
that’s high in fiber and water will help to
prevent constipation as well.

Fat
Fat intake for the elderly should be limited, not
eliminated. You can limit fat by choosing lean meats,
low fat dairy products, and food preperation
methods that don’t include frying.

Iron
For the elderly, iron deficiency can be seen with
those who aren’t eating much. Good sources for
iron include lean red meats or breakfast cereals.

Zinc
Zinc intake is normally with the elderly, and to
make matters worse, it’s not absorbed very well
either. Meat, poultry, and fish should be a part
of your diet to help you meet the requirements for
zinc.

Calcium
Calcium is one ingredient that most elderly folks
simply aren’t getting enough of. Most believe
that milk upsets their stomach, and therefore they
will avoid it. They should be getting around 1,500
mg of calcium a day, and nonfat powdered milk can
be used in recipes as a substitute for milk. Other
foods such as yogurt, low fat cheese, and broccoli
can also help you meet the requirements for calcium.

Vitamin B12
In order to absorb the benefits of B12, the intrinsic
facotr must be produced by the stomach. Most elderly
people suffer from a deficiency in B12 because they
have a condition known as atrophic gastritis. This
condition causes inflammation of the stomach,
bacterial overgrowth, and the intrinsic factor.
Without the intrinsic factor, this vitamin can be
absorbed.

Each one of the above nutrients are needed to keep
an aged body in good health. Elderly individuals
should try to stay active and strive for a well
balanced diet. Even though the aged body isn’t the
same as it used to be, proper care and the right
nutrients can help the elderly enjoy a healthy and
long life.

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Quick and Easy Lunches for the Cooking Challenged

Let’s face it, cooking is not a top priority in the lives of every man, woman, or child on the planet. In fact, far too people have made learning to cook a priority in their lives. This means that we often exist on convenience foods and boxed mixes rather than taking the effort to prepare healthy meals for our families and our own personal enjoyment.

The same holds true for lunches when we often resort to a can of soup or box of macaroni and cheese or some other such product rather than putting our creative efforts into making a quick and easy yet delicious lunch. You will see many ideas in this article and the hope is that these ideas will not only get you off to a great start for ending the lunch rut we all seem to find ourselves in at some time or another but also to try new things on your own.

First of all, not all great lunches require actual cooking in order to prepare. Some of them will require the use of the microwave and some of them will need to be cooked or at least prepared before hand and reheated. The choices are virtually limitless once you understand the creative concept that must be in place. You should also find that many of these ideas are so simple you will wonder why on earth you have never thought of them. I certainly hope that some of these ideas will become main features within your own home.

Lettuce wraps. These mike delightfully delicious lunch treats and the filling can be prepared ahead of time, which leaves only reheating the filling and wrapping when you’re ready to eat. This is a fun lunch to share with your little ones and it teaches them that lettuce is much more versatile than people often give it credit for being. Some people choose to go with a teriyaki inspired filling; my family likes taco inspired fillings for our lettuce rolls. You are perfectly free to come up with a favorite filling of your very own.

Try sandwiches with different breads. Believe it or not, my children love trying new things. It’s a rare trait for which I am extremely grateful. Believe me I understand all too well how fortunate I am. My youngest however, has a little difficulty with thick or crusty bread. Her favorite sandwich choice has become Hawaiian sweet rolls. We put the meat, cheese, mustard, and pickle in her roll as if it were a bun and she’s thrilled. Other great ideas include hollowing out crusty rolls and filling them with roast beef and cheddar. You can broil this in your oven for a few minutes for a rare sandwich treat. The cooking part is very minimal and you do not have to have in depth knowledge of anything to prepare or enjoy these simple treats. Other great bread ideas include croissants with ham and cheese or chicken salad, taco pitas (another great favorite in our household), and paninis (this works really well if you have a George Foreman grill or a panini press).

While this is by no means the end all be all guide to cooking quick and easy lunches it is good food for thought. The hope is that this will get your own creative juices flowing so that you can prepare wonderful lunches for your family without needing to do too terribly much heavy cooking in the process.

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Nine Facts About Fiber

If you’ve been looking for a way towards a high
octane diet, you’ll find fiber to be exactly what
you need. Even though research has shown fiber to
be powerful, many people aren’t taking this nutrient
seriously.

To help you fuel your health with fiber, here are
10 facts to help.

1. Fiber fights diseases. A diet high in fiber can
help to prevent colon cancer and heart disease. High
fiber helps the body to eliminate cholesterol by
binding it in the digestive tract. For thousands of
years, fiber has been used to stop constipation.

2. Fiber can actually help with overeating. All high
fiber foods will take longer to chew and digest,
making you feel satisfied longer

3. Most popular foods don’t have enough fiber. If
you like the more popular foods, you probably need
to increase your intake of fiber.

4. Grains offer the most fiber. Dietary fiber is
actually plant matter that we cannot digest. The best
sources are whole grains and concentrated grain
products.

5. Kids need fiber as well. Children that are older
than 2 years of age should consume a daily intake of
fiber. Kids are most receptive to fiber found in
fruits, vegetables, and even fortified breakfast
cereals.

6. More fiber needs more water. In order to keep
fiber moving through your digestive tract, you’ll
need to consume a lot of water. With your diet of
fiber, you’ll need eight or more glasses of water
every day.

7. Fiber cannot be cooked out. When you cook
your fruits and vegetables, don’t worry about cooking
the fiber out, as it stays. The fiber found in
fruits and vegetables aren’t just in the skin or
in the peel.

8. You can get enough fiber. If you eat more than
50 grams of fiber in a day, you can get diarrhea
and bloating, which can interfere with your body’s
absorption of other key minerals.

9. Getting the right amount of fiber in your diet
doesn’t have to be hard. Even though you may think
so, getting the amount of fiber you need isn’t very
hard to do. All you have to do is eat the right
foods and you’ll be well on your way to a fiber
rich lifestyle.

As one of the key ingredients to healthy eating,
fiber is something you don’t want to skip. Fiber can
serve many different purposes, which were covered
above. If you aren’t getting enough fiber in your
diet - you should do something about now instead
of waiting until it is too late.

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Pleasure Cooking

Far too often we get caught up in the necessity of cooking in order to eat and forget the absolute joy that can be found through the act of cooking. Of course this isn’t limited to stovetop cooking. There are many men and women around the world who find baking to be an extremely pleasurable pastime in addition to traditional stovetop cooking or even barbecuing on a grill. The main distinction occurs in how you perceive your cooking projects.

How Do Your View Cooking?

While this question is asked somewhat rhetorically, it is a question you should ask yourself and answer. Do you view cooking as a chore or duty or do you view it as a project? There is something much more exciting about embarking on a new project than getting around to a loathsome chore. If you do view cooking as a chore the more important question might be why?

Some common reasons that people dislike cooking include the following: lack of skill, lack of confidence, boredom, or you could simply dislike the inevitable clean up far more than you enjoy the process of cooking. For each of these, there are solutions if you are willing to make the effort.

A lack of skill when it comes to cooking can be easily corrected in most cases by taking a few cooking classes. Classes are offered for varying degrees of skill sets and are meant to help you develop your cooking talents while teaching you the basics of meal planning and preparation. You can increase your skills by taking more classes down the road.

While a lack of confidence is a little more difficult to address having a few ‘dinner parties’ in which your quests can compliment your culinary talents can often solve this particular dilemma. The key in this process is to plan your menu carefully and remain well within your comfort zone. You will be amazed at the wonderfully rich and delicious meals that can be prepared with very little effort if you are willing to sift through the recipe books in order to find them.

Boredom in the kitchen is perhaps one of the easiest problems to fix there is. The solution is exceedingly simple-find a challenge. Try cooking Thai or Indian cuisine. Try more difficult recipes. Try making only meals from scratch or simply try broadening your use of spices and seasonings. There are many things you can do in order to bring some excitement back into your kitchen. You may even discover hidden talents and tastes in the process.

There will always be clean up. My suggestion is to make a deal with either your partner or your children and they can draw straws over who cleans up. Of course if this won’t work in your family, you could always turn over a new leaf and clean as you go whenever possible. This makes the clean up process after dinner so much simpler to handle that it is well worth a few extra minutes during meal prep.

Cooking for pleasure is really the only way to cook. If you have difficulties when it comes to finding the enjoyment and entertainment value of cooking, perhaps it’s time you bring some fun back into your kitchen. If you’re barbecuing, put on some Jimmy Buffet and dance around your kitchen. If you’re cooking Italian find some nice Italian music to set the mood. Bring the fun back into your kitchen and you will find that cooking is a pleasure rather than a chore.

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