Posts Tagged ‘health’

Crock Pot Cooking And The Summer Heat

March 11th, 2010

When the weather outside warms up, the kitchen can be a terrible place to be. There are many things you can do however, when it comes to cooking a nice home made meal that does not require traditional stove top or oven cooking.

Learn to utilize some of the less heat-creating equipment in your kitchen, such as the crock pot, in order to truly overcome the summer heat and keep your cool while cooking a nice hot meal for friends and family.

So, how does crock pot cooking actually help beat the heat? Simply put, the crock pot in and of itself gives off far less heat when cooking than an oven or stove top. This is the first and possibly the best reason to utilize the crock pot in your summer meal planning.

You should also take into account the fact that by not heating the house by using your stove top or oven you are also reducing the load on your air conditioning (or other cooling methods) so you are not requiring it to work overtime in order to make up for the additional heat that other cooking methods introduce.

This makes crock pot cooking a win-win situation as the costs involved in using a crock pot are far less than the costs involved in operating a stove or oven. Whether electric or gas, your stove and oven are serious energy users. Add to that the fact that you are not increasing the temperature in your home by traditional means of cooking and you are using even less electricity.

Regrettably, the general consensus has been that crock pots are intended for comfort foods and hearty winter meals. The truth is that the crock pot should be one of your best loved and most often utilized cooking techniques. When it comes to cooking with a crock pot, the options are almost boundless. Almost anything that can be baked can be cooked in the crock pot and many, many more wonderful and enticing meals and treats as well.

Benefits of Crock Pot Cooking

In addition to the cost advantages mentioned above, when it comes to crock pot cooking there are many other advantages that are worth mentioning. For a start the bulk of the work involved in crock pot cooking takes place early in the day when you are fresh rather than at the end of a hectic work or play day.

The result is that you are less likely to forget an ingredient or make some other slip-up, which can easily happen when trying to cook after a hectic day.

Second, many great crock pot recipes include the vegetables that ensure that we get the nutrients we require. So often, when preparing a meal at the last minute, vegetables and other side dishes are left out for the sake of expedience. Crock pot cooking, on the other hand, is a meal in one pot.

Another good reason to use a crock pot for your summertime cooking is the simplicity of washing up. Unlike traditional cooking with a couple of pots and pans, most crock pot meals are completed in one pot. This clearly reduces the hardware needed to be washed up or loaded into the dishwasher (or if you are like me – both) afterwards.

So, you spend less time cleaning up, just as you spent less time slaving over a hot stove. Well, make that no time slaving over a hot stove and after the washing up is finished, you can get back to making the most of the sun set, mucking about with with the dog or kids, or just waiting for the first stars.

While there will never be a method of cooking that suits everyone, crock pot cooking comes pretty close. So, if you have a crock pot collecting dust somewhere in the back of your cupboard it is time to get it out, dust if off, and dig up some great summertime crock pot cooking recipes.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the 2 quart crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

Cooking: Five Top Tips On Cooking

March 9th, 2010

There can not be many individuals who do not enjoy their food, but the human race, being what it is, I suppose that there are a a small number of them. However, for the rest of us, food is a source of daily enjoyment and, like drink, it is frequently employed to commemorate a happy event. not only that, but different foods are used for the different meals or distinct celebrations.

Commemorative meals were undoubtedly planned around the seasonal foodstuffs on hand, but a number of foodstuffs were transported huge distances for the benefit of those who could afford them. For example, my Dad deemed it a great luxury to be given an orange in his stocking on Christmas Day 60 years in the past. How the times have changed! Very few kids would deem an orange a present, special or not, any day of the year in our time.

Nonetheless, the preservation of food is still a daily affair and so, I have written a few top guidelines on preserving food below, so that you will get the best from what you have bought or grown in your garden even a long while later.

Chicken Stuffed With Spoons: a great way of preparing chicken to be eaten at a cold buffet or in sandwiches, is to put as many spoons as possible into the cavity of the chicken (not silver or plated ones though). Then, place the chicken in a large saucepan or pot and bring the water to the boil slowly. Simmer for 10 minutes, cover and leave until the water is room temperature. The spoons will retain the heat and cook the chicken from the inside out. it will be one of the most succulent chickens you have ever eaten.

Roasted Crisp And Light: if you like crisp-skinned roasties, it is best to parboil them first, but that is only half the story. so, boil the potatoes for five minutes and drain thoroughly. Put the lid on the pan and shake it about violently. Bang it hard on the chopping block several times. The harder the better. Then put the parboiled potatoes in the baking tray with the meat or fowl to cook as you would normally.

Salad Soup: Do not throw away salad that has been soaked in salad dressing. Whisk it up in a food processor with a can of tomatoes of tinned soup. Add lots of garlic to taste and adjust the thickness to suit your taste. Chill it down and you will have one of the most delicious summer soups ever.

Curdling Cure: if your mayonnaise has curdled there is one sure fire way to bring it back to life. stir in a couple of tablespoons of Hellmann’s mayonnaise and your problem will be over.

Simply Scrumptious Topping: a really, quick, delicious and almost infinitely variable topping for a savory pie can be made in seconds. Choose the flavour you want from the crisp rack; puncture the bag to let our the air and then crush the contents in the gag. it really adds something to a pie. The same trick can be used on the bottom of a potato pie a Texan housewife told me.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching the 2 quart crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

Using Dieting And Exercise To Lose Weight

March 8th, 2010

When it comes to living a long and healthy life, there are two important ingredients: diet and fitness. While some believe that they are indivisible, nothing could be further from the truth. It is quite possible to follow a perfectly healthy diet with deplorable fitness habits. It is just as possible to be physically fit with less than perfect eating habits.

There’s a smart little line in the Jimmy Buffet song “Fruitcakes” when his ‘lady’ is complaining: “I treat my body like a temple, You treat yours like a tent”

I can’t help thinking about this line whenever I think about all the people around the world who are on these garbage in, garbage out diet plans hoping to achieve the weight loss success of those who are endorsing the items.

To be totally honest, it is possible to lose pounds through dieting alone. It is difficult but possible. It is also possible to be physically fit and still have a few extra pounds. To a large part, we are what we eat. If we follow a high fat low fibre diet our bodies are going to lack the fuel needed to burn the fat. At the same time if we are not providing our bodies with the tools it needs to create muscle it does not matter how many weights we lift.

When it comes to diet and fitness, the best results are achieved when they are combined together rather. Use your fitness routine to burn surplus calories and use your diet in order to provide your body with the nutrients and fuel it requires to build muscle.

A pound of muscle takes up less space on the body than a pound of fat. Pound for pound, I would much prefer mine be composed of muscle than fat. Dieting alone does not build muscle and that is something you would do well to remember.

You should also understand that as you are building muscle you may be shedding inches while not showing a great deal of progress on the scale. It is very important that you bear this in mind throughout the weight loss process. Do not measure your progress by the scales alone or you will observe deceptive results.

The problem is that far too many people do just this, grow frustrated and give up when they are in point of fact making progress. Do not allow yourself to be a victim of the scales. Look in the mirror, try on your tight pants, and measure your waistline. Measure your success by how you feel after climbing a flight of stairs not by the scales.

By incorporating exercise into your diet routine you are also enabling your body to burn off any extra calories you may have consumed during the day. This means that if you want to have a small ‘cheat’ during your day, you can make up for it by burning a few more calories than usual in the evening. This is not something that should happen often but an infrequent occurrence is not going to make or break your diet.

You should also regard dieting and exercise as a hand and glove type of relationship. They fit together. Diet and exercise when combined can achieve incredible weight loss results for those who take them both sincerely.

The thing to remember is that neither works well alone and neither will work unless you are willing to do the work. You must make this a priority in your life in order to achieve the best possible results.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with why can’t I lose weight. If you have an interest in losing weight, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

Crock Pots

March 8th, 2010

In America, most people call these electric cookers crock pots, whereas in the Great Britain they are usually called slow cookers. Crock pots by Rival, DeLonghi, Hamilton Beach, Cuisinart and Toastess are particularly good examples of advanced crock pots. Some of these crock pots are programmable, which allows the cook more flexibility that the slow cookers of twenty years did not.

The first crock pots had only an on/off switch and no temperature control. This meant that the meals you could cook with them were limited, if you used your crock pot for cooking food while you were out of the house or work for eight hours or more. Modern slow cookers like those crock pots mentioned above have changed all that. These days, modern crock pots are programmable.

These modern crock pots are very versatile and with the best of them, you can set the temperature that the slow cooker should function at and the duration of time it should heat for a bit like a microwave oven. For example, you could program a modern slow cooker to cook at, say, 180c for an hour and then 100c for two hours

Most people do not realize the features that modern crock pots have. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of individuals who still believe that slow cookers are only useful for steaming rice, boiling soup or preparing cheap cuts of meat like scrag end of mutton. This is just not true any more, although manual crock pots were capable of more than that as well. Contemporary variable slow cookers can be used to make bread, cheesecake, custards and even sponges.

In fact, it is a good idea to get away from the old fashioned concepts people have about slow cookers and try to see them as an oven, which does not need a pot to cook in. Try the recipe underneath and see for yourself.

BANANA BREAD

1 3/4 c flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/3 c shortening 2/3 c sugar 2 eggs, well beaten 1 1/2 c banana, well mashed, overripe 1/2 c walnuts, coarsely chopped

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the electric beater on low, fluff shortening in a small bowl, until it is soft and creamy. Add the sugar gradually. Beat in the eggs in a slow stream. With a fork, beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture, ? the bananas another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the rest of the bananas and then the last of the flour mixture. Fold in the walnuts. Turn into a greased and floured baking unit or a 2 1/2 quart mold and cover.

Place on a rack in your crock pot. Cover the crock pot, but prop the lid open with a toothpick or a twist of foil to let the excess steam escape. Cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Serve Warm.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching the crock pots by Rival. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

Do You Sabotage Your Weight Loss Program?

March 5th, 2010

If you would like to lose weight, you must have a plan, a route map to success. This is called a program or programme. There are thousands of programs, but many of them are just just batty. If they sound foolish, they probably are. Have you heard of the ‘cabbage water diet’? It sounds daft and it is. You cannot only drink cabbage water all your life!

Although there is a lot of claptrap talked about losing weight, there are some truths that have a role to play in nearly any program you choose to follow. One of these truths is that it is better to eat many small meals during the day (about 5-6), than to go all day without eating and then stuffing yourself at dinner in the evening. This is commonly called ‘grazing’.

Have you ever asked yourself why this might be so? Well, the fact is, that the typical human body can only process about 250 calories per hour. If you consume more than that, you are probably overloading your digestive system. This is why it is important, because if your body cannot use all the calories that you give it, it will store them.

Your body can only use up what it requires to fulfill the job that it is busy with, that is, what you are putting it through. If you are watching TV, a lot of of those 250 will be stored. If you are exercising, most will be burned up. It stores the remainder as body fat. Your body has learned through evolution that tough times will come, so it prepares for them. It is like us putting excess money in a savings account or people hoarding food if a bad winter is predicted.

However, these days in the West, we seldom face those lean times anymore. So, that fat is never used up and we just keep adding to it until we resolve, by choice, to limit our intake of calories or increase our amount of exercise.

Knowing this information, what can we do with it? Well, if you were to want to lose weight, you ought to be consuming no more than 1,500 calories a day (or whatever your program tells you), so 1,500 divided by 250 is six. if you ate 250 calories every other hour, that would give you twelve hours.

Consequently, eating light but often would be a helpful strategy or program to follow, because first of all, you are only providing your body with what it requires, when it needs it and secondly, you are able to better maintain a consistent blood sugar level, which means that you iron out the spikes and troughs you experience in a normal day’s cycle.

Two hundred and fifty calories does not seem a lot, but it is surprising what it will stretch too, if you take the time to investigate. It is true that you will have to rigorously restrict some foodstuffs, like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, but whoever honestly thought that you could lose weight by eating that stuff anyway?

If you do not have time to cook a number of times every day, look in your superstore. There are loads of ‘250 calorie’ microwave meals. You don’t want to eat that? I can’t blame you. so get a decent cookbook, which shows calorie content. You are at work all day? OK, eat some fruit, but choose wisely. It can be done, it only requires a little will and planning.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with lose weight programs. If you have an interest in losing weight, too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight? You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

Ladies Golf Apparel and Fashion

March 5th, 2010

I was reading one of those ‘Golfing for Women’ magazines the other week and began wondering where the women live, who wear the golf attire modeled in women’s golfing magazines? I’ve never seen women, not even the professionals, who would dress in such expensive and outrageous clothing.

It’s so simple to spend tons of money kitting yourself out for the sport of golf. Think about hats, sunglasses, gloves, shirts, shorts, socks, windsheeters and shoes, and it is obvious that the costs add up very quickly, even if you do your shopping at cheap online sales. Then you have to factor in the cost of clubs, balls, bag, cart and fees and you have to play a round of golf really quite frequently to keep the “CPU” (cost per use) down to a tolerable level.

One half-page glossy advert showed a beautiful young ‘golfing lady’ in really tiny hot-pants (like that’s permitted on golfing greens!) that cost nearly $300, a golf shirt at almost $600, a jacket by Ralph Lauren at almost $200 and two-toned Utuser shoes costing $400 plus.

That comes to almost $1,500! I know that I could never hope to get the CPU on that outfit down to anywhere near a normal limit in my golfing lifetime! Don’t misunderstand me – I love clothes and I really love shoes, but could never afford, nor even want, golf shoes or pants that cost as much as a lot of people’s weekly wages.

OK, you need comfy golfing shoes that don’t look like an old pair of wooden clogs, but honestly, you will be able to find less expensive and yet still trendy golfing shoes.

I have bought a couple of very stylish golfing outfits, even though none of them are famous brand names. If I were to total up the cost of all of those articles of clothing, it would not add up to the cost of a Tse golf shirt. Personally, I would rather have a few trendy outfits than one that is priced way too much.

If I were to wear a $1,500 set of golfing attire to play golf in, I would just be too worried about getting it grubby or sweating in it to enjoy a proper game of golf.

If you enjoyed this article on fashion and ladies’ golf apparel and you would like to read more about golfing tipsing, please go to our website on Golfing Tips for Novice Golfers Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Menopause And Weight Gain: Is There A Connection?

February 28th, 2010

Studies of women aged fifty and over reveal that most women in this age group are convinced that their weight gain is connected with the menopause in their judgment. If you take into account the fact that some people might be using this as an justification and that others may not have made allowances in their diet for decreased levels of activity due to lifestyle changes, it is still difficult to explain why women in this age group have a tendency to put surplus weight on different parts of the body, especially the stomach, whereas any weight gained in younger women tends to be on the hips.

In fact, the truth is that hormonal changes do have a part to play in this phenomenon, although the method is not completely understood. At menopause a woman stops ovulating, her monthly menstruation periods end, and her body produces much lower levels of the female hormone estrogen, which is responsible for the ovulation process.

Low estrogen has been shown to cause weight gain in animals and it is almost certainly the reason why women’s bodies change shape. While women of childbearing age accumulate fat in the lower body, after the menopause they store it on the abdomen instead, like men. This leads to a greater risk of heart disease.

At the same time, both men and women tend to find muscle turning to fat as they grow older and the metabolism slows down. This means that if you do not adjust your eating habits, you will probably find that your weight increases. A person of 60 just does not require as many calories as a person of 40.

Hormonal therapy with estrogen is sometimes prescribed to control menopausal symptoms. Many women will be astonished to hear that studies have shown that hormonal therapy does not result in weight gain. Some women go through bloating and water retention in the early stages of hormonal therapy but this is usually short-term.

Hormonal therapy can reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing the changes in storage of body fat around the abdomen and lowering cholesterol. On the other hand, hormonal therapy has been linked with an increased risk of breast cancer in some studies.

If you find that you are gaining weight around the menopause, there are several things you can do.

Firstly, you should eat a healthy, low fat diet with plenty of fibre and avoid sugar.

Secondly, you need to take regular exercise. As people get older their physical activity levels naturally drop. Work often becomes less physically demanding, there are no kids to run around after, we take less active holidays and do things more slowly. Thirty minutes of moderate physical activity every day will help to balance out the effect of this.

Thirdly. you must preserve your muscle strength and mass. Use weights for arm muscles and walking or cycling for your legs.

Fourthly, try not to become worried about the alterations to the shape of your body. If you are not too overweight, but just have a thicker waist and slimmer legs, then don’t worry.

As customary, you ought to seek advice from your doctor before commencing any exercise program, if you have any medical conditions or if your fitness levels are low. Your doctor can also help with symptoms of the menopause and weight gain.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight? Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Extreme Weight Loss Diet-How To Lose Weight Faster Than You Thought possible

February 28th, 2010

I don’t think anyone would disagree with me when I say having a nice looking body is one of the most sought after things. You not only gain confidence by having other people look at you wishing they had your body, but you feel better about yourself. In this article, we will be going over three great tips to help you put together an extreme weight loss diet. After you finish reading this article you will realize how easy it is to shed off all the pounds.

1-Make sure you are eating at least five smaller meals per day

One of the most important things when it comes to losing weight quickly is to make sure you don’t go more than four hours without eating a meal. The reason for this is because when you go a long time without consuming food, your metabolism will slow down. If you eat every two to three hours, you will keep your metabolism going fast.

2-Breakfast is your best friend, not your enemy

As I am sure you have already heard before, breakfast is by far the most important meal of the day. If you don’t eat breakfast your metabolism will be slow throughout the day. But this does not mean you can eat anything during breakfast. It is best to consume whey protein and simple carbs first thing in the morning, try to keep the fat to a minimum. Oatmeal with a protein drink is perfect.

3-Try to stay away from sugars

Some of the most dangerous words in the English dictionary when it comes to losing weight are cake and candy. If you are a person who loves sugar and has a sweet tooth, that doesn’t mean you can’t eat any sugar at all. Sugar is perfectly fine after a workout, consider it a reward for working out. It is always a good idea have fruits right after a workout because they are loaded with the good kind of carbs.

You need an Extreme Weight Loss Diet if you are wanting to lose weight as fast as you can. To learn more about how you can lose fat just look at http://ExtremeWeightLossDiet.info

Are You Still Using Chemical Pesticides

February 27th, 2010

It is a well known fact that the use of pesticides is a huge health issue. With that in mind people are still using these unhealthy products each and every day, to the tune of a billion pounds a year of dangerous pesticides being used on our food and around our homes.

With people using these types and these amounts of dangerous pesticides, the amount of residual chemicals left on fruits and vegetables, that we consume is causing huge health hazards.

It is also causing huge health issues with farmers and farm workers. With over 20,000 pesticide related illnesses reported every year,according to the Environmental Protection Agency, this is really becoming a problem.

While farmers and farm workers having there problems, the American Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals reports there there are over 30,000 cases of pet poisonings reported each year and yes these are due to pesticides. These numbers are not made up, they are calculated by the animal poison control center.

One of the main causes is normal everyday people. The problem is that when we see a weed on our driveway the first thing we do is to grab a bottle of weed spray that is full of chemicals, and many people will even use chemicals as a preventative measure.

The use of pesticides has been proven to be the cause of, or a contributing factor of many diseases like birth defects, different cancer’s and even Parkinson’s disease. With all the problems with pesticides, people still use them

One would think that the government would step in and create laws to help regulate pesticides even more. Did you know that pesticide companies don’t even have to test there products meant for home use with the same standards as products for commercial use??? This means that home pesticides can actually be worse for you than commercial pesticides.

And these chemicals not only harm people, but they also contaminate the air, water and soil. This means that honeybees, butterflies and ladybugs along with fish are threatened with pesticides. One other small fact is that the pesticides you use around your house can and do seep into the water table.

The best bet for you and your neighbors is to learn how to combat pests without the use of chemicals. This will help you health and that of your pets and neighbors as well. And not to mention “Mother Earth”.

For more information on organic pest control visit our website, and we will help you with your termite treatment. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

The Rapid Weight Loss Myths

February 27th, 2010

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be slimmer just to have a sexier body. Many people have moulded their bodies to make them look more healthy and more desirable. However, there is no way to attain this new look in a day of two. The problem is that most people do not want to wait, they want it now.

This can lead to these people making rather rash and, it has top be said, rather silly decisions. They are not willing to wait and they are not willing to work for what they want. This is why so many people turn to rapid weight loss diets. Some ‘guru’ brings out a new fad diet and a good proportion of the ‘I want it now’ crowd jump on the band wagon. Only to be disappointed again within the year or less.

Speed diets or rapid weight loss diets tend to put out impressive advertising copy that is very hard to resist. However, all diets, no matter which one you choose, Weight Watchers, Atkins or fad diet, depend on overweight people making lifestyle changes in order for them to work permanently.

There is a very apposite saying: if you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got. That says it all. You can lose weight with all but the stupidest of diets, but if you go back to your old ways when you hit your target weight, you MUST slowly, but gradually creep back to your old weight.

If you give your body more calories than it needs, it will store them for when it does need them. The problem is that that day never comes for too many people, because they never exercise themselves. This is especially true of fad diets like the ‘cabbage water’ diet. Yes, you will lose weight on it, but you would lose weight by fasting whatever you did. For a while, and then you might get sick. For a diet to work, it has to be adaptable and enjoyable enough for you to be able to stick with it for the rest of your life. Make no mistake, dieting is long-haul.

Many rapid weight loss programs actually only squeeze the water out of you. Just like a wet sponge. But a good dieter maintains his or her grip on that sponge, not letting it soak up water again. The problem with short term dieting, is that you let go of the sponge underwater.

This is why serial dieters first lose weight and are delighted; then finish dieting, go back to their old weight and become depressed. In that state of depression they are suckers for the advertisers of the next latest craze diet. In other words, they are being manipulated and literally squeezed dry, but of their cash too.

These silly rapid weight loss programs also include fat loss pills. They are not making you lose fat, well, maybe a tiny amount gets washed out with all the surplus water you are carrying. They are only diuretics under another name. How many pills would I sell if I called them diuretics? How many more would I sell if I called them miracle fat loss pills?

Type the word diuretic into a engine and learn more about them. They are all around you in mild healthy forms. A diuretic will essentially cause your body to lose more fluid than was in the diuretic. Tea is a diuretic, for instance.

This list of these dopey dieting aids to rapid weight loss goes on and on, but someone must be buying them and you can bet your bottom dollar that it is the sad, depressed dieter who let go of the sponge.

Slimming soap! Slimming soap is being advertised as being a rare Eastern remedy for corpulence. Well, let me tell you, I live in the East and I have never seen it here. Asians are slim because they do a lot of physical work and do not come under the pressure to eat junk food that Westerners do, although that situation is changing rapidly too.

Magnetic weight loss earrings, I ask you! Even being inebriated without a present for your wife ten minutes before Christmas Day is not a good enough excuse to fall for this one, surely? The advertisers say that the secret of this set of earrings is that they are magnetic.

Well, if you believe this, why not get a pair of $1 children’s toy magnets or even a couple of fridge magnets and put one in each hip pocket? Two? Well, after all, you would not want to lose weight from only one side, would you? You would be lop sided.

Just remember, when you are looking for a rapid weight loss diet: there ain’t one ( that will work for life). If you are putting on weight, then your lifestyle is wrong and it is up to you alone to change it.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight?