If you’ve been to high school and studied biology then you know well that our body needs certain foods to function properly. There needs to be a balance of elements inside the body and when this is disturbed by eating the wrong foods then things can get bad.
Several research studies have indicated that the human body’s natural state is somewhat alkaline. And the body works well when this state is maintained. This means having a slightly alkaline pH levels inside the body. It seems a healthy diet should have 60-80% alkaline foods and 20-40% acidic foods.
If you eat the wrong foods the pH balance inside the body gets affected and this in turn makes the body highly acidic.
Although acidic environment inside the body does not cause immediate problems, however having an acidic state for long periods of time makes the body toxic and may even shorten the lifespan.
Many of the prevalent diseases like high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and more are caused by high acidic state inside the body.
Everything boils down to what we eat and the way we eat. Our food habits have changed regularly. In the good old days we consumed food that came from natural resources. This was primarily by way of foraging and hunting.
With time people changed and the food also changed. People got better food because they could grow and cook their own food. This in turn resulted in foods being added to our diet. Things like dairy products, refined grains, refined sugar, processed food and variety of meats got added.
According to reports from research studies, dairy and meat products tend to increase the acidity of the blood. Eating too much of acid promoting foods can potentially lead to liver and kidney damage and can increase the chances of developing diabetes.
Along with the foods, toxins and chemicals also entered our foods in the form of preservatives and additives. These toxins and chemicals disturb the composition of food and cause horrible ailments and diseases.
In fact the process of heating the food itself destroys many of the nutrients in it. This is why there is so much talk about raw foods these days. It seems raw fruits and vegetables are the best foods for the human body as they assist in keeping the body in the natural alkaline state.
According to nutrition expert Emma Deangela, the best way to maintain good health is to find the proper foods that help in maintaining the correct acid-alkaline balance in the body. This actually means staying away from acid foods.
Emma has provided all the details about maintaining the acid-alkaline balance in the body in her information guide called the ‘The Alkaline Diet’. It seems the guidelines provided in this guide are based on eating habits of people who lived beyond hundred years by eating a perfectly balanced diet.
According to many health experts, alkaline foods are the key to transforming the human body and life.
Once you commit yourself to eating a diet that has alkaline foods you will start to feel healthy and energetic like never before. Doing this is not difficult because it is just a matter of making some changes to your diet.
Alkaline foods will help in purifying the body by getting rid of all the toxins and chemicals that got accumulated inside due to all the bad food habits of the past.
The acidic environment inside the body actually helps the viruses and bad bacteria to thrive and multiply rapidly. And this is what causes all sorts of health problems like indigestion, yeast infection, virus infection, and heartburn and so on.
Once you start eating alkaline foods the changes inside your body will start to happen. Reversal of the acidic environment will flush out the disease-causing agents from your body. And once the toxins are thrown out and the body starts functioning optimally, you will also see the fat melting away slowly.
As you maintain the alkaline environment inside the body things will only improve. You will lose fat consistently and in no time you will have a lean and properly shaped body.
Your immune system will get a boost and the body’s disease fighting capability will get a boost. Organs producing excess of sugar and bad cholesterol will fall back to normal levels. And this would result in disappearing of blood sugar and cholesterol related health issues.


our hot tea selection
BOMBAY BLACK CHAI
Brings together a collection of bold flavors like ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon chips and premium full leaf Assam tea.
DRAGON EYE OOLONG
This smooth, well-rounded elixir blends smoky Chinese oolong with safflower, peach and apricots.
The South African herb, rooibos, provides more antioxidants than green tea and gives this blend its soothing properties. Caffeine Free.
EARL GREY LAVENDER
Darjeeling estate, Ceylon and Oolong tea leaves are flavored with a hint of Oil of Bergamot and then joined with French super blue lavender


Published on : 08 October 20213 min reading time
Shochu: a very fashionable drink in Japan
Generally, shochu is made from rice, barley, wheat, sweet potato, sugar cane, etc. Depending on the basic ingredient chosen, there are several types of shochu sold in Japan, but also in several countries of the world. For example, there is imo shochu whose main ingredient is sweet potato, kome shochu made from rice, and mugi shochu made from wheat. Honkaku shochu made from black sugar is one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in the country. The preparation consists in distilling only once the components to obtain a drink with more flavor and thus more aromatic. This alcoholic drink is very popular in Japan and is one of the best traditional Japanese drinks.
Which drink to start with?
First tasting of Japanese spirits? If this is your case, you will certainly not know how to choose between the multitude of bottles proposed on the market. Especially, if you have not had any recommendations from connoisseurs. In this case, you can rely on the label inscriptions to choose a sake. Although most of the labels are in Japanese, it is still possible to refer to the translations offered by the product descriptions on the online Japanese liquor websites. Aromatic profile, category, origin, taste indicator, composition, these tools will allow you to make your choice among the best sakes offered according to your tastes. You can even consult the recipes and compose your own cocktails if you are looking for a particular flavor, or if you want to be creative.
Tasting the best spirits of Japan
There are many types of tastings that will allow you to discover several flavors of trendy Japanese spirits. For example, you can taste different preparations in order to compare the taste of Japanese spirits. For this kind of tasting, you can choose a well-known sake like Honjozo or Ginjo. If, on the other hand, you want to taste sake as an aperitif, you can choose cocktails such as Umesake No Kyo with small seafood dishes as accompaniment. You can also accompany some sakes with fruits according to your preferences. In case you are looking for specific pairings, don’t hesitate to read the labels and product descriptions which will certainly suggest you some accompaniments for a better tasting. This way, you will be able to choose your sake and enjoy the best possible culinary preparations to enjoy your Japanese alcohol with ease.


This week I have a really nice wine for you. It's a Tempranillo with a great rating (The Wine Advocate gives it 91 points) and some fun facts to boot: Casajus Vendimia Seleccionada 2006.
|unless you want this guy|
spitting in your food, I
would recommend NOT
calling him "Garcon"
"juice house," as in: "Here is the house where we make our juice." (ta-da!)
Neither, surprisingly enough, is the case. Upon doing a little research I discovered that the wine is named for Jose Alberto Casajus, the owner of the Bodega Casajus vineyards where the wine is produced. What's more, Jose Alberto is the only employee of Bodega Casajus AND the town's baker! So he bakes bread until 9:00am, then heads across the street to the Bodega and makes some wines. You cannot make this stuff up.
I paired the wine with homemade baked mac n' cheese and ham. It wasn't a great match, and I didn't go for a second glass with my meal. I'd recommend pairing the Casajus with something more complex and/or spicy, like jambalaya.
This wine's a little more expensive than many I review here, so all the better if you come in and try it (for free, of course) before you buy it.


The Indian Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is laying major emphasis on implementing schemes to scale up infrastructure projects for the food processing industry by investing Rs 241 crore for establishing new abattoirs and ramping up the existing ones, quoting a top official from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), a BS report said.
At a conference on meat processing technologies organised by the Tamil Nadu Technology Development and Promotion Centre (TNDPC) of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Chennai, BS Prakash, Assistant Director General (AN&P), ICAR said: "The MoFPI would make investments to create a brand value for the Indian wholesome hygienic meat products and byproducts. What is more, the Ministry is initiating schemes to upgrade infrastructure for the food processing industry, and as part of this, would invest Rs 241 crore in setting up new abattoirs and upgrading the existing ones. Furtheremore, it would invite expressions of interest for the empanelment of zone-wise project management for the scheme, the official added.
Even as India having considerable livestock population, the export of meat and meat products hardly three percent. The industry and academia should work in tandem to reduce the challenges and boost meat production in the country, he said. Hyderabad-based National Research Centre on Meat (NRCM) is contemplating on collaborating with TNDPC to start training programmes for the entrepreneurs in the sector.
AK Srikanth, CEO of Alchemist Foods (Private) Ltd lamented: 'India produced around 6.5 million tonne of meat in 2010-11, which was around 2.2 percent of the global meat production. However, only around 1.1 percent of it is converted into value-added products like sausages, kababs and meat balls, while the world average is 70-72 percent'.


Zapekanka is what we call a Russian baked cheesecake. It is not the same as a cheesecake you are used to seeing or tasting. This one is fluffy and not creamy like a normal one.
I remember my grandmother and my mother used to make it and I still remember the taste of it.
This is a Russian baked cheesecake recipe called Tvoroznaya Zapekanka. Tvoroznaya means cheese, and zapekanka means bake. So it is a cheesebake instead of a cheesecake. 😉
To start preheat the oven to 350F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.
Next, you will need 2 cups of ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. If you can get your hands on some farmers cheese from the Russian store, that will be even better. Put it into a large bowl.
Next you will need to separate the yolks from whites of 4 large eggs. Place the whites into one bowl and the yolks can go into the bowl with cheese.
Add the flour, raisins, salt and sugar into the cheese bowl and mix it well. A tip with raisins, I like to put them in a cup and fill the cup with water to cover the raisins and then microwave it for 1 minute. This will make the raisins soft.
Whip the egg whites until they have stiff peaks and then fold it carifully into the cheese mixture until it is all mixed together.
Butter the bottom and the sides if a 8″ loose bottom cake pan. Butter it well so all the corners have butter on them. Pour the bread crumbs into the center of the pan and then spread them around the bottom by tilting the pan around. Then tilt the pan on the side and roll it to spread the crumbs along the sides of the pan.
Now spoon the cheese mixture into the center of the pan and let it spread itself out into the pan. When you have all of it in there, use a spoon to carifully push the mixture towards the edges. But don’t smear it on the edges.
Bake the zapekanka for 30 minutes. Test it with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean then it is done but if not, then bake it for another 10 minutes.
Once the toothpick comes out clean, but the top of the zapekanka is not golden brown yet, set the oven to 400F and let it bake for another 5-7 minutes. Once it is golden brown, you can pull it out.
Set the pan on the counter on a hot pad and let it cool for 20 minutes. Don’t remove the pan sides yet.
Once it is cooled down, remove the pan sides and dust the zapekanka with some powdered sugar and add some berries on top.
It can be served warm or you can refrigirate it and serve cold with some lemon syrup on top. It goes well with the sweet zapekanka.
If you wanted to make a cake that is taller and fills the entire cake pan, follow the bigger recipe.
I just doubled the ricotta cheese and increased the rest of the ingredients. The regular recipe comes out a little thin for my liking so this bigger one makes a cake that looks more full. Let me know what you think.


60 Second Salad Cutter Bowl
When it comes to healthy eating, sometimes the toughest part is the time it takes to cook the food. The Salad Cutter Bowl makes it possible to get your salad within a minute.The salad cutter bowl is a slotted plastic bowl that allows you to make a salad in 60 seconds! Its a safer option for cooks with less chance of cutting your fingers while slicing ingredients. It allows you to save time making healthy salads for you and your family making It is easy and habit forming to make a salad every day.
CLEAN & SAFE: Cutting board free, and it is no need for you to clean to much containers anymore. Just cutting all kind of fruit or vegetable directly in the cutter bowl. And no need to worried about cutting your finger anymore.
PRACTICAL & MULTIFUNCTION: The bowl can be used as a strainer, with which can wash your lettuce together, the pedestal can be used as a cut board, just sets them up for a perfect Cross cutting. Spin the strainer and slice your fruit or vegetable smaller.
GREAT HELPER FOR HEALTHY LIFE: The salad container matches with a variety of foods, keeping nutrition balanced. It is also the great helper for a family to live a healthy life.
Healthy: HDPE+PP Food Grade Material BPA Free, don’t need to worry that it will endanger your health.


Such a bummer as I've been sick twice already since starting my new job. They've been really understanding about it, saying that this is what happens when you start working with children. They are little germ factories! I still feel bad though. I'm not normally sick. In fact, aside from 1 day of food poisoning last year, I haven't been sick for 2 years!
I'm taking my vitamins(which I will be adding more of, after watching Food Matters), trying to keep my eating clean, drinking my water, and trying to stay healthy. I've been lightly puttering around trying not to over do it. I covered my shift for today as I was scared of making my coworkers-or even worse any babies sick!
Over the weekend I have a couple dinners to get done, some errands to run for the business, a bank appointment, and I still have a lot to do around here! The plan is to rest up again tonight and take it easy so I can get better. I need to fight this.
My eating has been good, except last night. I was within my points and I added veggies but I had noodle soup, not so healthy. It felt good on my throat though. It's the one thing I always want when I'm sick.
In other news have you been hearing all the hype about an ingredient in most milk substitutes (and some other foods) called carrageenan? Well I had no prior knowledge of it until it was stirring up all kinds of attention recently. At first I just kind of thought, eh...probably something else being said isn't good for you, kind of like the whole egg debate of not long ago.
So this week I decided to do a little looking into the negativity about carageenan and have now decided that I'm not willing to chance eating it. Long ago in my teenage years until my mid 20's, I struggled horribly with IBS. I finally have it under control for the most part and I really don't want to do anything to flare it again, let alone the other supposed possible affects of consuming it. So for the time being I am trying really hard to acquire a taste for Oat Dream milk and Hemp milk, the only two products I've been able to find that do not have carrageenan in it. I'm hopeful that in many of us writing to these companies asking they remove it, or even develop a new product without it, I will be able to have my beloved almond milk/soy milk once again. Until then, for our house, it's adios! For my small amount of coffee creamer I have gone back to organic dairy creamer.
Here is a peak at some recent eats in no particular order;
#1-Roasted veggies(onions, carrots, baby potatoes, parsnips, garlic and grape tomatoes) with tzatiki and cod nuggets.
#2-Sprouted grain bagel with an egg and cheese.
#4-Quaker oatmeal w/chia seeds, whole wheat English muffin with P.B. & jam.
#5-Ramen noodle soup loaded with veggies and 2 slices toasted cheese bread.
#6-Spinach and Ricotta lasagna rolls. These were the Safeway healthy brand and I added low fat cheese to them. They were just ok. I wouldn't buy again, but needed to use them up!
Tonight we decided to watch the documentary Food Matters.
It was really, really good. I recommend watching it if you have the opportunity. We have been trying to watch a lot of documentaries from Netflix lately. I really enjoyed Vegucated, Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, and Hungry for Change. It's making me reevaluate my groceries going forward. I have a mostly whole food, but there are still a handful of things we eat now that once we use up will no longer be a regular staple in our home anymore.
One of the things it made me want to start incorporating more of in my diet is Superfood. I used to be really diligent about making sure I consumed a few of them everyday but that healthy habit has fallen to the wayside. Some of my favorites are;
- Chia seeds
- Amazing Grass
- Bee Pollen
- Cacao nibs/powder
- Green Tea
- Goji berries
- Coconut water
- Maca (I just bought this for the first time!)
I also took the time to do up a tenative meal plan for the week. We actually did crapo following last weeks, so many of them are reappearing this week.
Hubby is having a boys game night here Friday. We are making lasagna (well cooking I should say-using up ones in our freezer!) and making pull apart bread for them. I'm not sure what I will be eating yet.
I tried making the Zecret Zucchini bread from the Forks Over Knives book but it failed! I stuck a tooth pick in and it came out clean so I left it to cool and when I cut in the very bottom inch or so wasn't cooked :( It needed 10 more min. Boo! I hate when that happens. It smelled good though so I will try it out again soon.
Well that's it for me tonight. I'm off to take some cold med's and get some Zzz's! Have a great weekend :-)
Are you concerned about carrageenan?
Do you believe in Superfoods? If so, which ones do you use most?


On Dryden-18 it was unusual for some of us to eat in the base camp kitchen on a regular basis. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were reserved for those who could make the kitchen during scheduled hours. For the rest of us, it was catch as catch can.
Never fear, though, for Swanson TV Dinners weren’t only for watching TV in the living room. We ate them as a substitute for the real meal deals offered up in the base camp kitchen at Pine Beach.
Where’s the oven, you ask?
The oven was right inside the clamshell doors on the Hughes 500, where temperatures were warm enough to heat the eye-catching, silver-plated connoisseur’s delight. After a suitable amount of time had passed and following much anticipation, the meal was removed from the oven, steaming hot and ready to be consumed. The foil was carefully peeled back and a veritable feast presented itself to the hungry, deserving pilot. Added bonus: once the tasty entrée was consumed, there were no dishes to do.
Who knew that the Hughes 500 could be such a kitchen magician?
Occasionally we would compare the benefits of our choice for the day. If someone’s meal looked better, it would result in a mad dash to the grocery store once we got back to town. Personally, I preferred to have my dinner thawed overnight before inserting it into the clamshell oven. It heated much faster and could be consumed earlier in the day. One could keep a stash in a cooler just off the helipad, thus allowing for a delicious selection to choose from throughout the day.
If you think the colour in these images is off, you should have seen the colour of the food in those trays once the aluminum foil was peeled back.
For you youngsters out there, the aluminum tray was replaced in 1986 with plastic/polyethylene in order to transition to microwave cooking. And for you purists, dessert was dropped in 2001.


TETON TEA NOTES
HOT BREW TETON TEA
Use a teapot:
Bring fresh, cold water to a full boil
Use one teaspoon Teton Tea loose leaf per cup
Or - 1 Teton Tea pyramid sachet
Pour boiling water over tea and brew 3 – 5 minutes.
Special Brewing for GREEN TEA:
Bring fresh, cold water to a boil, remove from heat
Let water sit for 10 minutes
Pour over Teton Tea green tea and brew 1 minute.
Special brewing for OOLONG TEA:
Heat fresh cold water to 189 – 190 degrees
Pour over loose leaf Oolong Cyrk or pyramid sachet
Brew 5 – 7 minutes


Ah, the modest egg. It thickens, leavens and emulsifies. It can be a garnish or a glaze. Or it can be the main event. It is, ultimately, cheap and cheerful!
by Daniela Pagliaro | photography by Nadia Pagliaro
Through my world travels and my most recent journey into handmade pasta, I have come to believe that the humble egg is the world’s most versatile ingredient.
Ah, the modest egg. It thickens, leavens and emulsifies. It can be a garnish or a glaze. It can be the main event, like with Mexico’s famous breakfast dish, Chilaquiles, it can be a sauce like with Italy’s famous Spaghetti a la Carbonara, or it can be the deep, yellow binder in handmade pasta dough.
It’s a demure yet powerful protein-packed pod that can catalyze culinary alchemy. It comes in its very own eco-friendly packaging. It’s cheap and cheerful.
In the following recipes, the fresh egg takes the cake!
A rural riff on the traditional dish: Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Spaghetti alla Carbonara is one of the most famous Italian pasta dishes. It was my favourite meal to order as a kid when we went out for family dinners at an authentic Italian restaurant.
This might sound funny coming from someone who makes fresh pasta for a living, but this dish works best with dry pasta. Trust me on this!
Traditional carbonara is made with five simple ingredients: spaghetti seasoned with browned guanciale, black pepper, Pecorino Romano cheese and beaten eggs. No cream, no garlic, no onion and definitely no peas! (Guanciale is cured pork jowl or cheeks. Salted and peppered, it’s left to mature for three months. It has a lot of flavour and fat; pancetta is drier. If you can find it, use it.)
The “rural riff” on the dish includes fresh eggs, a mix of Parmigiana and Pecorino Romano, and locally smoked bacon with a high fat content to mimic the guanciale.
It’s made in a few simple steps, but it’s the attention to detail that is key to success with this dish. Timing is everything and it must be enjoyed immediately so the sauce doesn’t dry out.
The other key is the ratio of whole eggs to yolks to achieve that creaminess we all love. To simplify, remember that it’s one whole egg for every four people plus one yolk per person.
Yield: Makes four servings
350g dried spaghetti
200g (about 1/2 pound) locally smoked bacon, cubed (the fattiest you can find)
1 whole egg plus 3 yolks
64g (½ cup) grated Pecorino Romano cheese
64g (½ cup) grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Fresh cracked black pepper
Tears of the pasta gods, as Pasta Queen likes to call it (starchy pasta water)
1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Make sure to generously salt the water so it tastes like the ocean. When the pasta is done, reserve 120ml (1/2 cup) of the starchy water before draining.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed bacon and cook until it is crispy and golden and the fat has rendered. Turn off the heat.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and the cheeses until well combined.
4. Return the bacon pan to medium heat and add half of the reserved pasta water. Gently toss the spaghetti into the pan and agitate the pan over the heat until the bubbling subsides. Most of the pasta water will absorb or evaporate.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the egg mixture using a spatula to get all that yummy, golden creaminess into your pasta. Stir quickly until the eggs thicken. There will be enough heat to cook the eggs but you have to work quickly to prevent the eggs from scrambling. If the sauce seems too thick, you can thin it out with some more of the reserved pasta water, one splash at a time until it reaches the desired consistency.
6. Grind some black pepper over it liberally and taste for seasoning. It may not need salt because the bacon and cheeses have their own saltiness.
7. Serve and enjoy immediately with friends or family. It’s a bit of performance, so have fun!
Fresh egg dough and Tagliatelle
As a first-generation Italo-Canadian, I have been enjoying handmade pasta for decades. My grandmother, Ortenzia Giordano, was the classic nonna – a second kitchen in her basement, a front-zippered apron and labouring for hours to make cannelloni for family gatherings, even into her 90s. She was the inspiration for my small-batch pasta business, OG Cucina.
This recipe is the gateway to handmade pasta making. Its beauty is in its simplicity – flour, fresh eggs, water and salt. No precision cutting required, no machine needed, but you should use a scale.
Flour is a compressible powder and fresh eggs come in different sizes, so using cup measurements and counting eggs as though they’re uniform will make your pasta journey more frustrating.
Yield: About 450g of pasta or four servings
300g 00 pasta flour: doppio zero (grocery stores that sell PC products carry it)
185g (3/4 cup) wet ingredients: 2 large eggs plus 3 large egg yolks, water (see instructions)
2 tsp fine kosher salt
Extra flour for preparing to fold and cut the dough
Coarse semolina flour for final dusting and storage (Bob’s Mills version is readily available)
1. Weigh 300g of flour and place in the medium sized bowl, add the salt and mix thoroughly with a fork. Don’t forget to tare (reset) the scale with the empty bowl on it first.
2. Heap the flour onto your work surface and make a well in the centre about 12cm to 15cm (5 to 6 inches) in diameter. You can use a flat-bottomed measuring cup to do this if you like.
3. Place your small bowl on the scale and tare. Add two whole eggs, followed by three egg yolks, then add water until you reach 185g. If you accidentally add too much water, don’t fret. You can whisk everything together and simply pour some of the mixture out.
4. Gently pour your wet ingredients into the flour well. Using a fork, gently beat the eggs until combined, then keep incorporating the flour into the eggs by scooping around the inside of the flour mound to slowly incorporate more flour until it’s mostly absorbed into the egg mixture.
5. At this point, start using your hands and gather it into a loose ball. This will be messy, so enjoy it!
6. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes to activate the gluten, which makes the dough stronger and elastic.
7. Set aside for 30 minutes in a tight lidded bowl or wrap well in plastic wrap so it’s airtight.
8. Once your dough has rested, cut it into four equal pieces. Use one piece at a time and keep the remaining pieces in the airtight container or plastic wrap to prevent drying.
9. Generously flour your work surface and rolling pin and roll one piece at a time into a large, paper-thin sheet. Enjoy the workout!
10. Once the dough has been rolled out, flour both sides generously, fold it over in a roll. Cut the roll of pasta into strips roughly 60cm (¼ inch) thick. Then dust with more flour and unravel them. Repeat this process with the remaining dough.
11. Set cut pasta aside on a tray. I like to sprinkle mine with semolina flour to prevent sticking. Leave out at room temperature if you are cooking it immediately or cover and place in the fridge to be cooked later. The dough may darken if left in the fridge for 24 hours, but it has not gone bad.
12. Boil a large bot of heavily salted water (the key to great tasting pasta!) and cook your pasta for roughly two minutes. When it floats to the top, it’s ready. Strain and enjoy with a sauce of your choice.
Fresh eggs as the main event: Chilaquiles con Salsa Roja
In the winter of 2019, my daughter and I spent three weeks backpacking around the Yucatán Peninsula in southeastern Mexico. We were in search of the perfect chilaquiles, Mexico’s beloved traditional breakfast food.
This has become my go-to brunch meal when I’m entertaining friends and family, but it’s a showstopper at any time of day.
There are many incarnations of this dish and my recipe is just one variation. I encourage you to play with protein substitutions like chicken or black beans, or use a salsa verde if you can lay your hands on tomatillos in your neck of the woods. This is the perfect morning-after meal because you get to use your day-old tortilla chips!
Ingredients for the Salsa Roja
3 fresh whole Roma or San Marzano tomatoes or 400g of baby San Marzanos
5 garlic cloves, peeled
1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed (seeded if you don’t like a lot of heat)
1 fresno chile, stemmed (seeded if you don’t like a lot of heat, or skip and add another jalapeno)
1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped
5ml (1 tsp) cumin seeds
240ml (1 cup) water
Zest and juice of 1 lime
5ml (1 tsp) sea salt
Directions for the Salsa Roja
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, char the outside of the tomatoes, garlic and chiles and then add the onion and cumin seeds. Continue to cook about three more minutes. Add water, lime zest, lime juice and salt. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
When the tomatoes have nearly lost their skins and the garlic is softened, puree the sauce in a blender briefly, leaving the final product a bit chunky. If it’s too thick, add a bit more water. It will keep for up to seven days.
Tip: Pour into a mason jar while still hot, twist on the lid and let cool on the counter for about 30 minutes until you hear the lid “pop” and seal. Store in the fridge. Tastes best on the second day!
The Rest of the Ingredients:
4 healthy handfuls of leftover large, lightly salted or unsalted tortilla chips
475ml (2 cups) salsa roja
260g (2 cups) shredded haloumi (crumbled feta or shredded
Monterey jack cheese are also delicious)
32g (1/4 cup) pickled jalapeños
1 avocado, cut lengthwise into 65ml (1/4-inch) thick slices
120ml (1/2 cup) sour cream
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves
Pea sprouts or other sprouts
Zest from whole lime
Pinch of sea salt
The Rest of the Directions:
Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
Measure and prepare all ingredients and have them ready ahead of time. If you’ve already made your salsa roja, now is the time to take it out of the fridge, pop it in a medium saucepan and heat on medium-low. If not made ahead, make it now.
1. Once the oven has preheated, place tortilla chips on a baking sheet and bake until they start to sizzle. Remove and set aside.
2. Zest the lime and combine with sour cream. Set aside and cut the zested lime into quarters for later.
3. Equally distribute the baked tortilla chips onto the four platters.
4. Sprinkle each with equal amounts of shredded cheese.
5. Spread a ladleful of hot salsa roja over the chips and cheese.
6. Lovingly place the pea shoots or other sprouts in a clump on top of the cheese, a bit off centre.
7. Fry the eggs in oil of your choice, sunny side up or poach them lightly if you like a runnier egg (I do!).
8. Place two eggs on each of the tortilla beds.
9. Pour some extra salsa roja on top.
10. Garnish with cilantro, a blob of lime sour cream, avocado slices and a few pickled jalapenos.
11. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
12. If you manage to get your hand on Mexico’s famous condiment, Tajin, use it!
Daniela Pagliaro has been a resident of Haliburton County since 1998. She learned the art of pasta making from her Nonna Ortenzia Giordano and recently started OGCucina in honour of her Nonna. Follow Daniela’s adventures on Facebook – facebook.com/ogcucina and Instagram – instagram.com/og_cucina and on her website https://og-cucina.square.site/


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What exactly is “Ceremonial Chocolate?”
We as women tend to always crave chocolate. The media encourages it, we crave it, especially during certain times of our monthly cycle, society tells us to eat as much as we can, and doctors and medical journals tell us it can actually be good for us.
But what is “ceremonial chocolate” and why is it different than any other chocolate that we consume? First, raw cacao is a great source of polyphenols. These are antioxidants that are found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, wine, etc. They help reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and help maintain a healthy blood sugar level. Unfortunately, processed cocoa available in most stores and online are stripped of their natural superfood benefits. The cacao is heated to a high temperature and alkaline is often added to cut the bitterness. This can often take out as much as 60% of the antioxidant benefits!
On the other hand, ceremonial chocolate is cacao in its fermented form, free of processed junk and back to how this glorious fruit is intended to be consumed. It adheres to earth’s natural cycles in growth and harvest.
What are the benefits of ceremonial chocolate?
We have heard that superfoods are all much better for us than our everyday processed foods. What makes this particular type of chocolate different from other dark chocolates you can find anywhere?
First, we have to take a look at WHY this particular chocolate is better. Firefly Chocolate works with small, local farms that give back to the land as they harvest the cocoa pods and each farm plants, prunes, and harvests the beans with the earth’s natural cycles of harvest and growth. Meaning, the trees are treated with respect as a wonderful, natural, beneficial resource. The pods are then collected while wet, then fermented and dried (most chocolate on the market is only washed of the white fruit and then dried, resulting in a less beneficial chocolate).
Because the cacao is fermented and roasted over an open fire, most of its natural antioxidants are retained. What makes it so special?
- Cacao in its truest form has the most flavanols out of ALL other superfoods (including blueberries, cranberries, and acai).
Yes, you read that right. Organic cacao has over 40 times the antioxidants of blueberries. It has an ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) score of 98,000 per 100g vs blueberries at a mere 2,400. ORAC is used as a measurement of the ability of antioxidants to absorb free radicals (these come from pollution and toxins in our environment) that cause cell and tissue damage and eventually lead to diseases such as cancer. Foods rich in flavanols have been scientifically shown to protect against or even shrink cancer cells.
- Organic cacao can help reduce the symptoms of a cough or cold.
Cacao contains theobromine, which helps with a myriad of things, including helping open up the airways. It can help with asthma, colds, and other lung conditions that are caused by inflammation of the airways. Theobromine helps reduce that inflammation.
- Cacao has a lot of calcium!
There is so much controversy over cow’s milk these days, but the media tells us that we NEED cow’s milk because we need the calcium it contains. Did you know that organic cacao has more calcium than your glass of milk? Try switching out your trim latte or daily glass of milk for a few squares of dairy-free raw organic chocolate instead.
- Cacao is naturally full of magnesium for a healthy heart and brain.
Organic, fermented chocolate is also one of the highest plant-based sources of magnesium. Magnesium is one of the most deficient minerals in the western hemisphere. It helps turn glucose into energy and enables your brain to work with sharper focus and clarity, improve verbal fluency, and ward off certain diseases. It has also been shown to lower the amount of calcified plaque in arteries and lower the risk of heart disease. If you notice a craving for a chocolate bar when you are tired, or can’t focus, or are having a long day, it could be that your body is signaling that you need some magnesium. The body generally craves what the body needs.
5. Cacao is a great source of iron, copper, and manganese.
If you follow a plant-based or vegan diet, iron can be hard to come by. Did you know that cacao is the highest plant-based sources of iron known? It has somewhere around 60-70% of your daily required amount. The iron in cacao is non-heme (just like all other plant-based sources), so it needs to be mixed with vitamin C in order to get the maximum benefits. Oranges, kiwi, bananas, or superfruits such as acai and pomegranate. Try mixing your cacao in a fruit-based smoothie to achieve maximum absorption of all important vitamins and minerals in a healthy, natural way.
6. Organic cacao is a natural mood elevator, aphrodisiac, and antidepressant.
Cacao is a great source of four scientifically-proven “bliss” chemicals — serotonin, tryptophan, tyrosine, and phenylethylamine. These are associated with our feelings of happiness, comfort, and wellbeing. Much of the western hemisphere turns to pharmaceutical drugs in order to ward of the feelings of depression and anxiety. Try eating or drinking raw, organic chocolate to alleviate feelings of depression and anxiety and a more natural way of “getting your happy buzz” (in a legal way of course).
We here at Sacred Sisterhood Tribe use Firefly chocolate because of their care of earth and all of the natural properties. Try using ceremonial chocolate for 60 days and see how you feel afterward. We know you will not be disappointed!


Growing up, Passover was always about time with family and food. There were so many great things that we only had once a year, but there were also times when we didn't look forward to it. When I was 3 and my sister was 5, we didn't care for any of the breakfast options provided for us. My Mom tried to create breakfast foods for my sister and I - eggs, Matza Brei , cream cheese on Matza - we wouldn't eat anything. We were used to having cereal every day, or occasionally waffles, pancakes or eggs. How were we supposed to last a whole week without our precious breakfast treats.
This was back before the days of boxed cake mix being plentiful. The cereal options were disgusting and we were finicky matzoh-ed out children. My mom was able to get past all this and figure out a solution. She took my Grandma Betty's beautiful sponge cake, sliced it up and soaked it in egg and turned them into Passover french toast.
What you have to understand about this recipe is that like many items cooked over the week, it already contained twelve eggs. The idea of soaking the cake in more eggs and frying it was delicious, but hardly the healthiest idea. That didn't matter at the time - we were kids and we weren't eating anything, so she did what she had to do. In less than a week the entire cake was gone and everything was fine.
Until my Mom casually mentioned to Grandma what she had done.
"You did WHAT?"
Grandma was not happy that her precious sponge cake had been defiled, no matter how ingenious the idea was. She was shocked that it was used to "make breakfast". These were famous cakes that were baked in mass. My father, aunt and uncle used to come home from school to find dozens of them laid out on their beds. In the end Grandma Betty got over it, probably because my Mom was able to recreate the cake so well on her own. She continued to make the cake for us each year, and we loved it in it's original form as well. To this day my mother makes the cake using Grandma Betty's recipe and her cake pan.


The McHardy's Chicken & Fixin' building at 1458 N. Broad Street has a history of feeding the community that goes back further than the restaurant's opening in 2001.
"This building used to be the Broad Street Mission; they have always fed people from this building," said Rahman Mogilles, who runs McHardy's with his mother Alvi Mogilles.
The Mogilles take pride in providing a service to their community by serving high-quality food at very reasonable prices. "That's why we do the breakfast—it's not for me to make money," Rahman said. "My grandma said if you hold your hand too tight you can't get anything in it."
McHardy's started out selling five pieces of chicken for $2.74 and fries for 99 cents in 2001, and prices have risen just minimally since then to keep up with inflation.
Rahman said he has always been in the Broad Street area. "It's like the backbone, for me at least, of the city," he said, and he loves the surrounding businesses, like CoCo Hut and Community Book Center. The culturally diverse neighborhoods surrounding McHardy's bring in customers from India, Jamaica, and Nigeria.
The family came up with the idea for McHardy's in 1999. Rahman's father, a banker, invented the chicken recipe, and the first menu consisted of chicken, fries, jalapeño peppers and drinks. After 2006, dinner rolls, red beans and rice and side items were added to the menu, and fish was added in 2010. The restaurant has offered a breakfast combo, juice and coffee for about seven weeks. The combo deal—grits, sausage, eggs and toast—is provided for less than $2.
McHardy's serves up thousands of pounds of chicken each week, with Super Bowl weekend taking the cake for highest sales. The restaurant has been known to fry up 65 cases of chicken plus party wings—more than 11,000 pounds of chicken. Rahman's goal is to be officially recognized as the world record holder for most chicken fried, so that he can show his daughters his name in the Guinness Book of World Records. The current record is 2000 pounds. But Rahman also emphasizes that quality cannot be compromised for quantity.
The Mogilleses employ six cutters in order to give customers the best product. "We trim all tail fat, all back fat. We have the cleanest product you'll find in fast food," Rahman said. "It's like you cook at home. I'm a finance major; I don't know how to do all that preservative stuff," he said.
Rahman is a graduate of Morehouse College, where he obtained a minor in economics in addition to his finance major. Alvi Mogilles has an executive Master's in Business Administration and a Master's in Public Health. With their combined backgrounds, the family has know-how for all aspects running a successful and delicious business.
McHardy's has also seen hard times, but the Mogilles family has always come back to serve the Broad Street community. The restaurant saw four feet of water and was completely devastated after Hurricane Katrina, Rahman said. "We had to rebuild from the ground up," he said. About a month or two later, he and his family were some of the first people back in town. Seven months after that, the restaurant caught fire and the family rebuilt again. "The fire took us longer to rebuild than the actual flood," he said.
McHardy's is open for breakfast and lunch, and the store has another location in the West Bank.


Perfect Preserves: How to Preserve Tomatoes, Lemons & More
Preserving the bountiful harvest from your garden is not just a way to save money. It’s a delicious and sustainable way to enjoy your homegrown autumn produce throughout the year. With a little effort and some creativity, you can transform your autumn harvest into jams, preserves, and chutneys. These condiments are sure to tantalise your tastebuds no matter the season!
We’ll explore the art of preserving, providing you with simple recipes that will keep your pantry stocked with garden-fresh goodness.
What Does Preserving Mean?
Before we dive into the delicious world of homemade condiments, let’s talk about the basics of preserving your harvest. “Preserving” may sound fancy, but at its core, it means finding ways to keep your garden produce fresh for longer. Food preservation typically involves techniques such as freezing, drying, pickling, or making jams, preserves, and chutneys. By preserving your harvest beyond the growing season, you’ll reduce waste and allow for a continuous supply of homegrown food.
Just be sure to sterilise all of your jars to guarantee the longevity and safety of your homemade delights!
5 Easy Ways to Preserve Your Garden Produce
How to Preserve Tomatoes
Even the most green-fingered gardener is likely to end up with a glut of green tomatoes that just haven’t ripened by the end of the season. Green tomatoes are actually delicious when fried or even pickled, but to enjoy that tomato-taste year round, try this chutney recipe.
- 1kg green tomatoes
- 250g onion
- ½ rounded tbsp salt
- 250g sultanas
- 250g cooking apples
- 250g light muscovado sugar
- 0.5l jar spiced pickling vinegar
- Slice the tomatoes and finely dice the onions. Layer in a large bowl with the salt and leave overnight.
- The next day, dice the sultanas and peel, core and chop the apples.
- Put the sugar and vinegar into a large pan and bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the sultanas and apples and simmer for 10 mins.
- Strain the tomatoes and onions in a colander (but don’t rinse), then tip into the pan and return to the boil.
- Simmer for 1 hr, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick and pulpy.
- Transfer to sterilised jars and cover with lids.
How to Preserve Apples
Turn apples, a quintessential autumn fruit, into a delightful apple chutney for year-round enjoyment. Here’s a simple recipe:
- 1kg apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 250g onions, chopped
- 250g brown sugar
- 250g apple cider vinegar
- 125g raisins
- 125g chopped dried apricots
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- Salt to taste
- In a large pot, combine all the ingredients.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens and the apples are tender. This usually takes around 45 minutes to an hour.
- Ladle the hot chutney into sterilised jars, leaving about 1/4-inch headspace. Cover the jars with sterilised lids and bands.
- Process the jars in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes to seal them properly.
- Allow the jars to cool, and store them in a cool, dark place. Your homemade apple chutney will pair nicely with cheeses, meats, or as a condiment for various dishes.
How to Preserve Garlic
Fresh garlic is a year-round kitchen essential, and you can easily preserve it to ensure a steady supply. Here’s what you need to do:
- Whole garlic bulbs
- Olive oil
- Separate the garlic cloves from the bulb and peel them carefully.
- Place the peeled cloves in a clean, dry jar.
- Fill the jar with olive oil, making sure all the garlic cloves are completely submerged.
- Seal the jar and store it in the refrigerator. The garlic will keep for several months, and you can use the oil for cooking as well.
How to Preserve Pears in the UK
Pears are a popular homegrown fall fruit across the UK. Preserving them is a way to enjoy their sweet flavour throughout the seasons. Discover our pear preserve recipe below:
- 1kg ripe pears (peeled, cored, and chopped)
- 500g granulated sugar
- 1 lemon (zested and juiced)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Combine the chopped pears, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a large pot. Stir well.
- Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the pears become tender and the syrup thickens (approximately 30-40 minutes).
- While the pear preserves are still hot, ladle them into sterilised jars, leaving about 1/2 inch of headspace.
- Seal the jars and process them in a boiling water bath for 10-15 minutes.
- Allow the jars to cool, and you’ll have delightful pear preserves to enjoy throughout the year.
How to Preserve Beetroot
One of the most delicious and enduring ways to savour beetroot is by pickling it. Homemade pickled beetroot not only offers a burst of flavour but also makes a delightful addition to salads, sandwiches, and charcuterie boards.
- 700g beetroot
- 250ml white vinegar
- 250ml water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 175g sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
- Start by washing the beetroots. If they have stems attached, trim off, leaving a few centimetres attached to the beetroot.
- Place into a saucepan and cover beetroots with water.
- Boil for about 30 minutes or until tender when pierced with a fork. Smaller beetroots might take about 20 minutes and large beetroots might take about 40 minutes or more.
- Let beetroots cool to a warm temperature and then rub off the skins with your hands.
- Slice the beetroot or cut into chunks if preferred.
- Place beetroot into a sterilised jar.
- Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boiler. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Pour through a sieve and into the beetroot jar. Seal the jar and store in the fridge.
Why Preserve Your Homegrown Produce
Preserving the abundance of your autumn harvest is more than just a cost-saving measure. It’s a delectable and eco-friendly way to relish the flavours of your homegrown produce regardless of the season. What’s more, with these simple jar recipes, you can explore new cooking techniques to expand your culinary horizons. So, roll up your sleeves, prepare those jars, and embark on a delicious journey to preserve the goodness from your garden.


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Evie is a Dietitian - Nutritionist (Ph.D.) specializing in clinical nutrition,…
Encouraging proper nutrition is a key component of any employee wellness program. To help employees feel empowered by nutrition, wellness programs can support them in making healthier eating decisions and adopting healthier dietary habits.
Two approaches to eating behaviors — mindful eating and intuitive eating — may help employees feel better, lose or maintain weight and adopt healthier lifestyle habits. Learn more about mindful eating vs. intuitive eating in this guide to improving eating habits.
How Hunger Works
The human body has a mechanism to regulate our energy needs. It uses hormone signals to communicate to our brain the amount of energy stored in the body as fat, as well as the amount of energy consumed vs. expended throughout the day. Based on these signals, our brain sends further signals for when to start (hunger) or stop eating (satiety). These signals are also hormones that give us the feeling of hunger (i.e. ghrelin) or satiety (i.e. CCK, PYY). These signals can vary also in intensity based on our body’s energy needs. But, do we start or stop eating solely based on these biological signals? The answer is no!
For many people, there are times that they eat in the absence of hunger or that they continue eating after satiety. This happens due to other internal reasons, such as emotions, or external factors, such as the smell or sight of food. When eating for reasons other than homeostatic regulation, regulation by intrinsic homeostatic signals to initiate or end eating is either not provided or overridden.
Two types of practices have been developed that instruct people to reduce external motivators of eating behavior and elevate the importance of the sensory properties of foods and internal motivators of eating behavior: mindful eating (ME) vs. intuitive eating (IE). Both mindful eating and intuitive eating concentrate on internally focused eating; intuitive eating, however, does not involve meditation.
What Does it Mean to East Mindfully?
Mindful eating means paying attention to food and its effect on your thoughts, feelings, hunger, and satiety while eating, and noticing how these change as you eat. It is used to make conscious food choices, to develop an awareness of physical versus psychological hunger and satiety cues, and to eat healthfully in response to those cues. To better understand mindful eating and how to apply it, we need to discuss a bit about its origins.
Mindfulness is a practice based on Zen Buddhism and has become a popular way of self-calming and changing eating behaviors. The term “mindfulness” was defined by Jon Kabat-Zinn as “paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally.” Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer, and Toney (2006) presented evidence that mindfulness consists of five facets: observing, describing, acting with awareness, nonjudging, and nonreactivity.
- Observing refers to paying attention to internal and external sensations.
- Describing refers to labeling thoughts and feelings with words.
- Acting with awareness refers to staying focused on one's present-moment activities and acting deliberately.
- Nonjudging refers to accepting thoughts and feelings without evaluating them.
- Nonreactivity refers to letting thoughts and feelings come and go without reacting to them.
At the same time, regaining lost weight remains an obstacle in tackling obesity, depicting inadequate adherence to dietary and exercise prescriptions. Researchers have found there are two core reasons for this:
- Our biological predisposition to prefer high-calorie foods and minimal energy expenditure
- The constant exposure to an “obesogenic” environment (such as being surrounded by easily accessible high-calorie foods and labor-saving devices)
Thus, the combination of our biology and our environment makes adhering to dietary and physical activity prescriptions very difficult. Based on the above, an acceptance-based behavioral treatment for obesity was developed, a major component of which is mindful-decision making.
“Mindful-decision making” is a skill that involves ensuring that eating and physical activity decisions are made deliberately based on longer-term goals and values, rather than “mindlessly,” where we automatically react to internal and external eating and physical activity cues. The developers of this therapy also state that “learning and practicing these skills facilitate long-term maintenance of weight control behaviors, even in the face of countervailing forces.” So, mindful eating could be considered a process like mindful-decision making.
Intuitive Eating Principles
Intuitive eating is often used interchangeably with mindful eating. Intuitive eating was originally defined by two U.S. Registered Dietitians in 1995 who described ten aspects of intuitive eating, including a rejection of diets, a discouragement of labeling foods as bad, an encouragement to honor hunger, and allowing satisfaction with food intake. In other words, intuitive eating encourages individuals to reject the “diet mentality.”
The diet mentality is the process of relying on non-physiological factors to guide eating rather than relying on the biological self-regulation system. Intuitive eating is eating with an intentional focus on physiological hunger and satiety cues rather than external cues to guide intake. External cues can include emotions, food availability, seeing or smelling food, and social settings where eating is encouraged. Intuitive eating exercises involve training an individual to focus on responding to physical sensations to determine the body’s needs.
Can I Lose Weight With Mindful Eating?
So far, research data show that mindful eating seems to be an effective intervention for weight control, especially among people with disordered eating habits, such as binge eating and emotional or restrictive eating. When compared to no intervention, mindful eating has been shown to produce significant weight loss. When compared to conventional weight loss programs, it has been shown to produce equal results, and researchers are optimistic about better long-term maintenance of results, as mindful eating seems to be more sustainable than conventional approaches that deal with emotional situations that influence eating.
Up-to-date research evidence shows a beneficial effect of mindful eating when applied along with a healthy diet and an increase in physical activity, with the possibility of better long-term maintenance of the effects.
How Is Mindful Eating Different From Conventional Diets?
Diets tend to focus on the rules of eating, like what to eat and what not to eat or how much to eat, with the intention of specific outcomes, like weight loss. People know weight loss depends on caloric intake vs. expenditure, and they may or may not understand that it's influenced by behavior, however, sustained behavior change is hard and rare.
Compared to diets, mindfulness is a process-oriented rather than an outcome-driven behavior. The individual focuses on appreciating the experience of food and chooses what and how much to eat based on their internal cues of hunger and satiety. They can also choose food based on how much they like it, removing restrictions on intake. It’s not coincidental that, within a mindful approach, the person’s choices often are to eat less, savor eating more, and select foods consistent with desirable health benefits.
How to Practice Mindful Eating
- Begin with practicing 10–20 minutes of sitting meditation (e.g., preferably in the morning in a quiet space in a chair or on the floor on a cushion) and focus on breathing. When your attention wanders, bring it back to your breath. This will train you to be present.
- Explore meals or snacks where you could initiate a mindful eating approach.
- Practice doing mini-meditations by focusing on the breath and becoming aware of bodily sensations of hunger and satiety before and during meals and snacks.
- Before eating something automatically, stop and become aware of eating triggers such as thoughts, feelings, or environmental cues other than true hunger that prompt a desire to eat. Ask: “Am I truly hungry or do I want to eat for another reason?” If your desire is not about hunger, do something else more appropriate for the desire.
- Become aware of how hunger changes during a meal by noticing hunger before and after the meal and the sensations that occur as you eat. Notice your hunger and fullness 5-10 minutes after finishing your meal. Continue to check these sensations during the next 1-3 hours. Use your observations to help you in your eating decisions.
- Know when to stop eating by paying attention to the taste of your favorite food (e.g., potato chips). Notice when the flavor and enjoyment of the taste itself wanes. Identify when to stop eating.
- Experiment with eating other favorite foods (e.g., nuts or ice cream) mindfully by noticing the initial flavor, sensations during each bite, and when the initial burst of flavor wanes.
- Practice eating a meal mindfully at a restaurant. Consider what to order, engage in a mini-meditation, assess your level of hunger, determine how much to eat once the meal arrives based on satiety and your enjoyment of the food, and check in regularly with your hunger and fullness as you eat so you can decide when to stop eating.
- Create a list of alternative coping strategies to use when you are triggered to engage in emotional eating (e.g., reading a book, taking your dog for a walk, or calling a friend).
- Eat intentionally and only eat while eating. Put away other distractions and pay attention to your food.
- Savor each bite. After each bite, check in with your body to see how you are feeling. Have you had enough? Do you need more? Is it time to stop? Then move on accordingly.
How to Practice Intuitive Eating
- Reject the diet mentality: Avoid diets aiming at weight loss and not at improving your dietary behavior.
- Honor your hunger: Eat when your body tells you that you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full.
- Make peace with food: No foods are off-limits. Allowing yourself to have the foods banned by restrictive diets removes any guilt you might feel about eating them. When it’s no longer forbidden, the food may not seem so appealing. Eating what you want can make you feel more satisfied with your meal, whereas the alternative may lead to overeating when trying to fulfill your cravings.
- Challenge the food police: Notice and challenge your internal negative thoughts that categorize foods as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ leading to feelings of failure or guilt when you can’t stick to a diet plan.
- Discover the satisfaction factor: Savor the experience of eating. Don’t eat while you are in the car or distracted (e.g. by television). Studies show that people who eat while doing something else are likely to eat more, either at the time or at their next meal. Concentrate on your food while you are eating so you can appreciate and enjoy it. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes just the right amount of food for you to decide you’ve had “enough.”
- Feel your fullness: Think before you eat and eat only when you’re hungry. Pause in the middle of eating and ask yourself how the food tastes and how full you are. Stop eating when you are comfortably full, even if that means leaving food on the plate or saying no to dessert.
- Cope with your emotions without using food: First, recognize the emotions that lead you to eat. Find kind ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your issues that do not include food. Food won’t fix any of these feelings. As food is regarded as a pleasure by the human brain, it might alleviate any of the unpleasant feelings for the time being but won’t solve the problem in the long-term, but it might add another issue to solve, such as weight gain.
- Respect your body: Due to genetics, we are not all the same shape and size. So, accepting and respecting your body at any size will help you to feel better and make the best food and exercise choices for you. This will protect you from unrealistic expectations of body image, but mostly you will feel better about who you are!
Movement: Feel the Difference
Forget exercising to burn calories and shift your focus to how it feels to move your body. Choose something you enjoy, like dancing, walking, and gardening. Choose an active way of living, such as walking for groceries. After exercise, “pleasure” hormones increase in the brain making you feel calm. Don’t forget: the more you move the easiest it gets!
Honor Your Health With Gentle Nutrition
Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel good. You don’t have to eat perfectly to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or become unhealthy from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. After all, a balanced diet is one that factors in the frequency and size that promotes individual health.
Listen to your body and enjoy food and eating, but not more than life!
Originally published September 14, 2022 - 16:11 PM, updated November 21, 2023
- Artiles RF et al. Mindful eating and common diet programs lower body weight similarly: Systematic review and meta‐analysis. Obesity Reviews. 2019;1–9.
- British Heart Foundation. 10 principles of intuitive eating. Accessed at https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/weight/intuitive-eating/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating. Accessed on 18th June 2022.
- Forman EM & Butryn ML. Acceptance-based behavioral treatment for weight control: a review and future directions. Appetite 2015; 84:171–180.
- Grider HS, Douglas SM, Raynor HA. The Influence of Mindful Eating and/or Intuitive Eating Approaches on Dietary Intake: A Systematic Review. J Acad Nutr Diet 2021;121(4):709-727.e1.
- Mercado D et al. The outcomes of mindfulness-based interventions for Obesity and Binge Eating Disorder: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Appetite 166 (2021) 105464.
- Miller CK. Mindful eating with diabetes. Diabetes Spectr 2017; 30(2): 89–94.
- Nelson JB. Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat. Diabetes Spectr 2017 Aug; 30(3): 171–174.
- Sala M et al. Mindfulness and eating disorder psychopathology: A meta-analysis. Int J Eat Disord 2020;1–18.
- Warren JM, Smith N, Ashwell M. A structured literature review on the role of mindfulness, mindful eating and intuitive eating in changing eating behaviours: effectiveness and associated potential mechanisms. Nutrition Research Reviews (2017), 30, 272–283.


There is not a day when you don’t hear about a new diet that promises to make you lose weight. Some of them work and some don’t, depending on various factors. Keeping up with the tradition, there is another new diet that promises to make you lose up to 5 kilos in one month, without making you feel food deprived. The F factor diet it is. Read on to know more:
What is the F factor diet exactly?
The F factor diet is not exactly a diet but a lifestyle that focuses on consuming high-fibre carbs in combination with protein in every meal. This keeps you satisfied along with helping you lose weight. A high-fibre diet apart from making you lose weight also has some other health benefits including improved cholesterol levels, improved blood sugar levels and sustained energy levels.
According to the US Dietary Guidelines, women need 25 grams of fibre each day while men need 38 grams. The F factor diet promotes aiming for a minimum of 35 grams of fibre daily and tracking it by keeping a food journal.
Experts advise avoiding cardio while one is following the F factor diet. As doing cardio increases your appetite, which will make you end up consuming more calories than what you are burning.
What to eat on F factor diet?
Net cabs: These are the carbs that are absorbed by the body. In order to calculate the net carb in whole foods, subtract the fibre from the total number of carbs.
The F factor dieters follow several phases:
Phase 1: Aim for less than 35 grams of net carbs per day.
Phase 2: Aim for less than 75 grams of net carbs each day.
Maintenance phase: Consume less than 125 grams of net carbs per day.
Foods that you can eat on F factor diet:
Beans and legumes of all kind, eggs, high fibre veggies such as carrot, beet, broccoli, cauliflower and sweet potatoes, nut butter, high-fibre cereals, high fibre fruits including apples, oranges, pears and berries and whole wheat bread.
The diet can be great for weight loss as you do not have to keep a count on your calories. High-fibre foods that are also low in calories make for the perfect weight loss foods. These keep you satisfied while filling you up with not many calories.
Still, fibre can sneakily fill up, so beware.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article should not be considered as a substitute for a physician’s advice. Please consult your treating physician for more details.
Health & Fitness
Healthy adults should lift weight twice a week, says new UK exercise guidelines
Weight training and strength exercises are important regimes which help a great deal in perfecting your body and improving muscle...
5 things you should NOT do before a doctor’s appointment (and 3 things you should)
1. 5 things you should NOT do before a doctor’s appointment (and 3 things you should) An appointment with the...
Add these two berries to your breakfast for weight loss
Dalia, poha, upma, oatmeal, smoothie, chiila, dosa, idli and cereal bowl are some of the easy-to-prepare and nutrition-loaded breakfast options....
How can you prevent stretch marks while losing weight?
1. How can you prevent stretch marks while losing weight? Recently, actress Zareen Khan shared a photo of herself on...
Weight loss: Busting 5 myths related to low-carb diets
1. Debunking the myths related to low-carb diet Low-carb diets have gained tremendous popularity in the past few years. It...
This kind of body fat can actually help you lose weight
The best way to lose weight is no more a secret – healthy meals accompanied by regular workouts make for...
What is the F factor diet and does it really help in weight loss?
There is not a day when you don’t hear about a new diet that promises to make you lose weight....
Study claims you can lose 1-inch of belly fat in 6 weeks by doing this 7-minute exercise
Losing stubborn belly fat is not a child’s play. It is the most dangerous kind of fat and the most...
5 ways sweet potatoes can help you lose weight
1. Ways sweet potatoes can help you lose weight Don’t we all love sweet potatoes? Absolutely yes. This is because...
Do you know what happens to your body fat when you lose weight?
There is no denying that weight loss is all about creating a calorie deficit. You lose weight when you burn...


A Tokyo-based catering company started selling lunch in cat-shaped lunch boxes. Cat lovers visiting and living in Japan can now enjoy yummy food in a very cute cat-shaped bento box. Doesn’t food taste better when served in a cute way?
Founded in 1987, Oriental Foods Co. has been offering bento box lunch services to businesses. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, they decided to make a lunch box for general public.
A cat lover with three rescue cats at home, the company’s director suggested, “How about a cat lunch box?”
With lots of cat illustrated lunch boxes out there, the team wanted to do something special. After production trials, a cat-shaped lunch box was born.
Three cat bento boxes are sold as “Fuku-Neko Bento”. The box lids are designed after three rescue cats of the company’s director – Miyabi (girl), Runmaru (boy), and Sakura (girl).
Each cat lunch box has two tiers with specially prepared contents that will change every season.
Once you ate the yummy food, you can use the cat-shaped container to make gelatine cat figurines or use it as a keepsake and a storage box for various foods or small bits and pieces.
Which cat-shaped lunch box do you like most?


Tuesday, January 4, 2011
1 (3-pound) beef roast, trimmed of excess fat
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces button mushrooms
2 small onions, quartered
1 cup red wine
1 cup low-sodium beef stock
2 tablespoons gravy flour (recommended: Wondra)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Season the beef with salt and pepper, to taste.
Heat 2 tablespoons the oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the meat and sear on all sides.
Add the mushrooms and onions to a bowl and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and toss. Add to the skillet around the roast.
Put the skillet in the oven and roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 130 degrees F, about 40 minutes. Remove the roast from the oven to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes. Remove the onions and mushrooms from the skillet.
While the beef is resting, prepare the gravy.
Put the skillet on low heat. Add the wine and stock, while scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Whisk in the flour until the sauce is thickened and smooth.
Slice the beef into very thin slices. Transfer to a platter and serve with the mushrooms, onions and gravy.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Park Mazda-Subaru Akron
3363 S. Arlington Rd.
Akron OH 44312
How long have you been with Park Auto Group: 3 months
Your Title: Sales Consultant at Park Mazda
Describe yourself in 3 words: Creative, sensitive and Caring
If we would look in your refrigerator right now what would we find: Milk, Butter, Juice, Quesadillas and Water
What was the last book that you read: 2010 Fantasy Football Draft Guide
If you could trade places with another person, famous or not, living or dead, who would it be: Jude Law
Favorite Color: Yellow
What actor/actress would play the lead role in a movie about your life: Kyle Edwards...aka DJ Qualls
What is the best part of your job: Being my own motivator
Thursday, March 25, 2010
ONLY $849.00 FOR THIS UNIQUE PACKAGE AVAILABLE FOR THE HONDA ELEMENT EX MODELS.
- DOG FRIENDLY EMBLEMS
- REAR CAR KENNEL
- PET BED
- STOWABLE RAMP
- DOG PATTERN SEAT COVERS
- ALL-SEASON "DOG BONE" FLOOR MATS
- SPILL RESISTANT WATER BOWL
- ELECTRIC FAN
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
HONDA EXPRESS SERVICE SPECIAL
Oil change $19.99
Factory Honda oil and filter, with a new sealing ring, check all fluids, fill up the windshield washer fluid and car wash.
FREE SIDESLIP/ALIGNMENT INSPECTION
Why test side slip?
Tires are expensive. We check sideslip to quickly determine if your car is going to rapidly wear tires. Sideslip also will show how straight the wheel is traveling down the road. If sideslip is excessive it usually is corrected by an alignment.
Has your vehicles seen any pot holes or traveled into the pitfalls of the roads we travel? NOW OFFERING,
ALL WHEEL ALIGNMENT SPECIAL.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Check out our Honda online parts catalog for some great deals on some Honda Christmas gift ideas for the Honda owner in your family. We have everything from “Honda “ winter hats to great deals on Honda accessories. We even have a few Danica Patrick cardboard stand ups that would put a great finishing touch on any “Man Cave”.


Furthermore, there a large difference in caffeine at ease with the green teas that have tested. Several yielded no caffeine, although had about as much caffeine content as a cup of joe.
When tea tasting, start with appreciating the fine shapes and aroma of the dry leaf. The rich aroma for this tea should be appreciated well. To do this can certainly place with regards to a teaspoon with the dried leaf in the palm of one’s hand and breathe out hot air onto what happens and then breath in through your nose, the slightly woody and malty aroma is amazing.
Aside from black tea, Chinese green tea, jasmine green summer pie loose leaf tea, chamomile tea, lemongrass tea, ginger tea and even blackcurrant tea can ease weight destruction. However, one of the best teas to use if you wish to slim down is pu erh tea. Pu erh tea fat simply works most potently.
The ideal temperature to brew your white tea in is between 85-90 C (185-200F) and you’ll need steep other in the water will allow for 3-5 minutes. The resulting liquor will be very pleasant and mellow with an indication of a floral undertone and an exceptionally light Peony fragrance.
Sugar also be put in the connected with sugarcubes or raw cane sugar, to sweeten the beverage. Make use of the sugar spoon provided associated with sugar bowl to add the sugar to the cup and employ the teaspoon provided inside your saucer to stir the tea. Ensure that you touch the bottom of the cup and stir in well, prevent all fix and sweetness from being concentrated in the bottom for the cup.
This immature tea end up being be brewed at a cheaper temperature, about 175F or 70C, as well less time, only about 1-2 a few moments. Green tea that is steeped in boiling water for an extended period of energy and time will taste like you’re drinking lawn. This is why simply because they avoid green teas, make it correctly.
Unlike kinds of tea which very best consumed immediately after production, pu-erh tea, for example, could be aged for as long as 15 years or further. It is considered for you to become a post-fermented tea, meaning exposed to beneficial bacteria, microflora, and oxygen over time, which changes its chemical nature and style.


Thursday, October 24, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Monday, April 15, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
It's official ladies and gentlemen, I am a graduate.
Tamra Speakman HWP (Holistic Wellness Professional).
More information forthcoming on my business and website as it progresses. We will continue our travels this summer and then prayerfully put down some roots so that (among other things) I can start my new business.
Deeply Rooted Wellness
Wellness consulting with a Biblical perspective.
I am also continuing my studies in the Clinical Master Herbalist Program through Vintage Remedies. Exciting things happening. Pray y'all can come along for the ride!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
So far I've completed 4 homework assignments in 3 days, as well as a 1 task, 1 chore, and a life hack adding a new habit. It feels so great to get so much accomplished! Try it, it's never too late to start.
Friday, June 15, 2012
A treat tonight to go with our simple sabbath meal of honey turmeric salmon, brown rice with garlic and sauteed baby broccoli...
Homemade coffee almond chocolate bars
3 T organic coconut oil
9 T cocoa (I used Trader Joe's brand)
2 T butter (optional, leave out for vegan)
1 tsp. Organic coffee
1 T raw organic honey (or more for sweeter chocolate)
1/4 Raw almonds
(This is not an exact science adjust and alter and add all kinds of yummy fruit and nuts)
Melt, by warming in a pan, coconut oil and honey together slowly, do not boil or even simmer. Turn off heat add cocoa and coffee and stir till smooth add butter cut up and stir til melted. Prepare a pan or candy mold by either oiling or for easier removal line with wax paper. Pour half of your almonds in your pan, pour chocolate over them, scraping every last drip, sprinkle the rest of the almonds on. Place in refrigerator or freezer til firm (10 minutes or so). Break up and remove from pan. Allow your son to scrape the pan and of course test a piece...melting in your mouth YummmiE!
Store in the refrigerator.
We Delight in Your Shabbat!
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Green? Yes if you look closely at the one my son "cut" in half (with his mouth), you will see a slight green color. How did that happen?
These are hand dipped cocoa peppermint nettle truffles.
I am still perfecting the recipe to make a smoother truffle inside without cutting out the amount of nettle. Each truffle has approximately a teaspoon of powderd organic nettle, along with antioxidant rich cocoa, heart and digestion benefits of coconut oil, and mineral and enzyme rich raw honey, plus a bit o organic butter for a rich taste and a few drops of peppermint essential oil (in the whole batch) for flavor and digestion.
Nettle (Urtica Dioica) is an amazing herb as it can be beneficial for so many issues and is nutritive/tonic as well. It is a diuretic, astringent, galactagogue, hypotensive and also has antihistamine and antinflammatory properties. It has
been used for hayfever,eczema, hypertension, PMS, prostate (BPH), anemia, chronic diahrea, arthritis, gout , rheumatism , and to increase milk in nursing mothers.
Nettle is chock full of vitamins and minerals therefore it can be used as an herbal vitamin.
The list of nutrients it has is amazing:
Zinc, selenium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, chromium, serotonin, silica, vitamins K, E, D, C, B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5, A
We are eating it mainly for it's nutritive affects, but also for it's affect on allergies, joints and spine, and to make sure my growing young man has plenty of minerals for his rapidly growing bones, scoliosis and wisdom teeth.
Why not eat your herbs? They are delicious!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
A quick healthy snack for a hot summer day
4 ounces pure unsweetened pineapple juice (or fresh pineapple)
1 Organic Orange
2 ounces almond milk
1/2 tsp Organic pure vanilla
2 pieaces candied ginger or a 1/4 inch or less fresh ginger
Ice from 2 ice cube trays (mine happen to be small RV size)
Blend all in blender and enjoy :-)
(I'm using my handy dandy coleman camping blender, 12 volt or 110, and battery too)
Look It is so good I drank it all!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Monday, October 31, 2011
This evening I desired something fresh and lite for dinner so I made a salad with butter lettuce, jicama, persimmons, green beans and quinoa, with a balsamic vinagrette.
We had apple juice with Vibrant Health greens as well. After eating I started feeling hazy and had visual floaters, after a bit I noticed nasal congestion and within 20 minutes I had diahrea, after that I had joint pain in my ankles and arms. Wow easy to see something did not agree with me. So what went wrong? A seemingly healthy, lite meal caused a severe physical reaction. Was it one of the foods, a combination of foods together...or could it have been the basalmic vinagrette which was (store) organic but had some undesirables in it like caramel color and invert syrup, as well as soy oil which can be bothersome for me. Why I would buy such a thing is beyond me, but it is a reminder to READ LABELS! Persimmons in excess can definitely cause diahrea but I ate half of a ripe but firm fruit. Persimmons mixed with sweet potato apparently is a no no as the sugar mixes with the hydrochloric acid and can cause blockages (extremely large amounts of persimmons can as well)but obviously not the issue here. Over the years of getting to know my body I have definitely found certain things that cause reactions, such as white potatoes resulting in diahrea, however this one seemed rather extreme. So the only choice is to try each one separately and wait for reaction. I will wait atleast until tomorrow to make sure all my symptoms are gone, I may wait several days so I can get a true "gut" reaction. I will try the vinagrette first as it is a most likely candidate, then it will go in the trash ;( where it belongs. In the mean time I had a nice cup of chamomlie tea with mint and a dose of natural acerola vitamin C to fight any allergic reaction. Seem to be ok now just not quite up to par. This is the beauty of taking control of your own health, you learn so much about your body and the things you put in it to nourish it. Will let you know what I find out...Pray me luck
Blessings in Messiah
Hebrew Herb Maiden
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
(Lev 24:5-9) And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.
(Exo 25:30) And thou shalt set upon the table shew bread before me alway.
Shew bread is also called Bread of The Presence or more literally "Bread of The Face" or faces. 12 loaves were baked one for each tribe and represented the presence of Hashem and perhaps also each tribes presence before His face, continually in His presence.


Coffee originates from the bean of your coffee beans. That you bean generated a worldwide industry. Continue reading to find out some suggestions which you can use to create an ideal brew.
Ensure your storage container for coffee. Air may cause the coffee beans stale. When you break the seal don't use square plastic bags given that they won't be able to keep your air out. They enable air escape after roasting while cooling.
Stir the coffee in the pot right after brewing if one makes your own. Stirring your coffee a little bit will enhance its aroma and flavor develop. You'll enjoy better the coffee tastes when it's time for you to drink.
Don't grind your coffee beans until you're willing to utilize them. Coffee begins to lose a few of its flavor after being ground. Grinding all of your current coffee to get much weaker.
Are you experiencing friends over for coffee? You should think about dressing up your homemade lattes. You can create different patterns that can delight guests.Try putting some milk and chocolate together and then practice every time you brew coffee.
Would you benefit from the coffee you will be making using a drip machine? When you let your machine heat by allowing it run with only water, you may make some better coffee. Once you have run the equipment with water, dump it making your coffee. This is the way you should clean your machine.
Your coffee will only as great since the water it's made with. Before brewing with it, you may want to taste from the water.
There is an almost unending number of coffee types to select from. You can also get flavored coffees. Most folks though simply use creamer for flavor rather than brewing flavored creamers to their coffee as opposed to buying coffee which is already flavored.
Before pouring your first cup even though your machine carries a pause function, wait until the entire pot of coffee finishes brewing. While certain coffee brewers allow for this, the coffee quality will never be as good. This lets your coffee to become ready if you getting out of bed.
A French press is a must when you are after that perfect coffee. French press squeezes more oils from your coffee beans.
When your machine has a cup, wait until the coffee is finished brewing ahead of pouring your first cup even. Even though your coffee machine has this feature, you simply will not get a good coffee in this way. This would enable your coffee brew prior to you getting out of bed.
Are website you presently having a tough time recreating the flavors you prefer in coffee houses? One method to immediately increase the taste is to apply a more substantial quantity of coffee beans. A lot of thumb is to measure two tablespoons of coffee for every single more info 6 ounces water. Try different ratios of coffee to water for the greatest is perfect for your specific taste.
If your active baby requires so much attention which you cannot finish your coffee in your own home, check out a nearby coffee house you could drive through. You will find the whole trip the place to find enjoy your kids and simply obtain your caffeine fix.
Ask family and friends what coffees they drink. They may have seen flavors and blends that you just don't. Find out what blends they like to drink.They may wish to reveal to you over to have coffee sometime.
Once it can be done brewing.Leaving coffee pot around the burner is likely to make it unpleasant and bitter to drink consider the coffee out from the coffee machine. If you're not gonna drink all right away, use it inside an insulated container.
Don't drink caffeinated coffee within the afternoon. Consuming an excessive amount of caffeine too close to bedtime could disrupt your sleep cycle, despite the fact that coffee contains caffeine. In order to sleep well at night, stay away from coffee after 3 inside the afternoon.
It will help the device chilled before you use it to brew the next morning.
Hopefully at this point you feel more informed about different tips to generate a good cup of coffee. Blend a perfect bold flavor brew or possibly a medium sweet blend. Irrespective of what you decide on, so now you know everything you will have to make a remarkable coffee.


Only a couple of years ago news of a fully lab-grown burger had us asking ourselves if we’d eat meat from a test tube? But at more than $250,000 US a burger, fries with that would be out of the question. However in a recent interview with inventor Mark Post, he suggests the price of a lab burger has dropped to as little as $12 US. But don’t head for the drive-through yet. McDonald’s mass production magic wand is still needed to scale up the process. Commercial production of lab burgers could still be decades away.
There are factors in its favour (flavour is not one of them right now). Meat is an expensive product with a heavy environmental toll and developed countries eat a lot of it. Each year worldwide consumption is also rising rapidly as more and more as developing countries climb out of poverty.
Apart from the ethics of eating animals and the cruelties they suffer in feedlots the facts are meat production is unsustainable. The small ecological footprint may yet see lab burgers roaming free on our menus in the future.


Do you need a simple, easy and crowd pleasing recipe that you always have the ingredients on hand for? Something easy you can whip up without putting a lot of brain power into? This authentic Mexican fits the bill. It is a Mexican recipe, but it’s a mild dish that pair really well with many kinds of dishes, with roasted meats, with stew and yes with tacos or any other kind of Mexican fare.
This rice is definitely a staple at our house. My husband is Mexican and so we eat a lot of Mexican food on a regular basis. He’s at his happiest when dinner involves rice, beans and meat. His mama taught me how to make this rice, so this is for real real Mexican food I’m talking about here. Everyone loves this recipe, in fact I was asked by a friend to share it here on Making Home Simple.
I always keep jasmine rice on hand, in fact I buy it in bulk. 25 pound bag at a time. That way I always always can make a cheap healthy side to feed the masses (aka the children). I do the same with other bulk, longer term storage items like oats, dried beans and flour.
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups of jasmine rice
- 3 cups of water or broth
- 1/4 of a diced onion
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- some kind of veggies to add in: peas, carrots, green beans, corn
1. Pour about 2 Tablespoons of oil in a deep skillet, turn on med high heat.
2. Add 1 1/2 cups of dry jasmine rice to the oil in the pan. Stir occasionally and fry the dry rice in the oil until the rice turns golden brown.
3. When the rice has turned golden brown, add 3 cups of water (or broth if you are using it).
4. Add and veggies you are using, onions, garlic and salt.
5. Cover with lid, turn heat down to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.
6. After 20 minutes start checking to see if the liquid is gone in the pan and the rice is fluffy and cooked. Mine usually needs an additional 5 minutes or so. When you see the liquid is gone turn off the heat. If you catch it so there is just a little tiny bit of liquid still in the pan, you can turn off the heat and let it sit on the burner and it will finish cooking this way.
Some notes on making authentic Mexican rice:
1. The oil:
Any kind of oil should work here olive oil is just what I use, avocado oil would probably be a good choice if you are concerned about smoke points and all that. Coconut oil does change the flavor of the rice, which can be nice depending on what you are serving it with.
2. The rice:
My mother-in-law always uses jasmine rice, and that is what I have always used as well, but my guess is any rice would work. Also, you can adjust the amount of rice, but for some reason I have found what cooks best is the 1 1/2 cups. If you want to change the amount of rice the rice to water ratio is twice as much water as rice.
3. The veggies:
I almost always do peas in the rice because it’s so easy to through in a handful a bag of frozen peas and I can’t eat corn. Other good vegetable options are diced carrots, corn, small bits of green beans or a combo. Fresh is always the best, but frozen are surely so convenient.
4. The salt:
Mexicans (at least the ones I know) love to say “un poquito de sal” which means just a little bit of salt when cooking, then they proceed to dump in a large amount. This always makes me laugh! I use Himalayan pink sea salt which I think is not quite as salty? Anyways, I put in a good amount, about a tablespoon to tablespoon and a half. If you are using a different salt, and esp a regular iodized table salt you probably need less. If you don’t live with a Mexican you may also need less salt 🙂
5. The onions and the garlic:
My mother in law informed me the key to good Mexican food is lots of salt, onions and garlic. Using fresh onions and garlic is the best, but sometimes I need to cut my corners in the kitchen for one reason or another. So sometimes, ok a lot of times, I just sprinkle in some garlic powder and dehydrated diced onions and call it good.
Let me know how it turns out for you in the comments below!
You may like these posts:
Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest, I have lots of great recipes on my Simple Recipes Board.


There is no denying the importance of eating a well-balanced diet for everyone. However, as we age, the nutritional needs of older adults and their diets will need to be adjusted. Factors like less physical activity, lower metabolism, health conditions, and medication interactions greatly impact nutritional planning. If you are at an assisted living facility such as Plattdeutsche Home Society, you will have assistance from the chef and staff to ensure that your dietary needs are met. If you don’t have this level of support, here are some guidelines you can follow on your own.
5 Ways to Meet the Nutritional Needs of Older Adults
It is essential to know what you should and shouldn’t eat and how it can benefit your health. Along with some general healthy eating tips, here are some dietary recommendations you should consider following:
1. A Fiber-Rich Diet
The prime function of fiber is to assist with maintaining a healthy digestive system. It aids in healthy bowel movements and reduces the risk of constipation, high cholesterol and blood sugar, and other stomach problems. Grains are an excellent choice for fiber. Whole wheat, brown rice, quinoa, and oats are great healthy grains high in fiber. You can also find good sources of fiber in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and beans. Some medical conditions may preclude certain fiber sources, such as diabetes, so read those labels carefully.
2. Eating Enough Protein
We lose 30 to 50 percent of our muscle mass between ages 40 and 80. Maintaining our strength as we get older is vital in performing everyday tasks. Protein plays a primary role in the nutritional needs of older adults. Ensuring that we have our Recommended Dietary Allowance of protein helps our body heal from injury or illness and maintain skin durability and organ health. Foods high in protein are; eggs, beans, salmon, Greek yogurt, cheese, and protein supplement powders and drinks. If you are trying to be heart-healthy, avoid protein sources high in bad cholesterol.
3. Vitamin B-12 Intake
Vitamin B-12 plays a significant role in our body’s production of red blood cells and in providing energy. Sufficient levels of B-12 also help to lower the risk of osteoporosis by helping to increase bone density. Therefore, eating fortified foods such as breakfast cereals, eggs, bread, low-fat milk, almonds, and yogurt is essential. In addition, you can find great sources of Vitamin B-12 in salmon, tuna, shrimp, and chicken breasts, and when recommended by your doctor, there are vitamin B-12 supplements that you can take.
4. The Importance of Calcium and Vitamin D
Calcium is the key to healthy bones and teeth, and vitamin D is pivotal in helping your body absorb it. We also know that Vitamin D aids in regulating inflammation, muscle health, and immune systems. We can get calcium from most dairy products, edamame peas, almonds, and leafy greens. As for vitamin D, you can find it in such foods as oily fish like salmon, red meat, liver, or egg yolks. However, natural sunlight is your best source of Vitamin D.
5. Another Round of Water
No matter your age, drinking enough water is vital to everyone. It is necessary for the transportation of nutrients through the body, the functioning of our digestive system, preventing dehydration, and helping to regulate our body temperature. Unfortunately, as we age, it becomes more difficult for our bodies to store water, and we need to account for that. Additionally, with the medications we will likely add to our daily routines, hydration will become even more critical to maintain.
Valuable Plans for Invaluable Results
With this information and the guidance of physicians, you can quickly meet the nutritional needs of older adults. Planning a detailed shopping list and establishing a daily meal routine at home will help to cover your bases. If you are a resident of Plattduetsche Home Society, the chef, and his staff will know your dietary needs and prepare meals that meet your nutritional needs.
Contact us today to learn more about our services.