Pumpkin is one of South Africa’s favourite vegetables. Most restaurants serve pumpkin and spinach as vegetable side dishes with main meals and all mothers buy it for their families. There are many ways in which you can serve the great varieties of pumpkin available like butternut squash, herbert squash, “boer” pumpkin or red pumpkin, to mention just a few.
Not all types of pumpkin are in season and therefor available all through the year, so you have to use the one that is in season at a certain time. The most common and quickest way to prepare pumpkin is to boil it in a little bit of water, season lightly with salt and add some cinnamon. Otherwise you can mix the pumpkin with flour, salt and egg and bake “pampoenkoekies” in a little bit of oil, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and serve warm.
Another favourite recipe from times gone by, a truly traditional South African recipe, is “pampoenmoes”. You can either bake this in the oven or boil it in a little bit of water in a saucepan. This is a recipe worth trying:
Ingredients: 8 slices of white bread Butter Apricot jam 2 cups of pumpkin (1 butternut squash should do. Slice very thinly) Salt Sugar Cinnamon
Method: 1. Butter the bread on both sides and spread apricot jam on the side facing up. Place one layer in an oven proof glass dish, jam facing up. 2. Cut the pumpkin thinly, season lightly with salt and place on top of the bread. 3. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the pumpkin. 4. Repeat this until all the pumpkin and bread is used up, finishing with a layer of pumpkin. Dot a few extra clots of butter on the top. 5. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour in a pre-heated oven of 180?C
Serve the pumpkin hot with vegetables and maybe a lovely chicken dish, maybe a pie? This is a great dish to try and impress your friends with. It is very easy to make, so try it and see what happens!
For those of you who don’t know, the food pyramid is a carefully drawn up plan of exactly what the human body needs nutritionally. That is, the food pyramid is a guide to help us determine what we should eat everyday. It doesn’t have a set menu of food that you need to eat per day. All it has is a guide that can help you plan your meals so that you get the correct amount of nutrients into your system every day.
The food pyramid will show you the path to keeping yourself fit and healthy through a steady and healthy diet. Up until recently that’s all the food pyramid did. In 2005 however, the food pyramid as we know it was changed forever, and a more up-to-date food pyramid took its place. Now you’ll find that instead of the two-dimensional food pyramid we’re so used to, it’s become more three-dimensional. To show the added benefits that regular exercise will have on you, a figure running up a flight of stairs on the side of the food pyramid has been added.
Earlier if you looked at the food pyramid you would have seen horizontal lines spanning the food pyramid with the food that we eat the most of, starting at the bottom. The food that we should eat the least amount of, could be found at the top. This is the food pyramid that we all know about and the one that was shown to us when we were in school.
The new food pyramid however, is completely different. Apart from the fact that it’s become three dimensional and has a figure climbing up the side of it, this new food guide has also eliminated the horizontal lines. Instead we can now see lines starting from the tip of the pyramid and radiating downward.
Each of these sections are only as big, or small, as the earlier food pyramid sections were. Only with this new food pyramid, you now know that although you need to eat some food types more than others, even within those food groups there are some foods that you should only eat in moderation.
Additionally you’ll also find that your new food pyramid is color coded. So you’ll get an Orange stripe representing grains; a Green stripe for vegetables; a Red stripe for fruits; a Yellow stripe denoting how much fats and oils you should have; a Blue stripe for the milk and dairy products that you’re allowed; and a Purple stripe showing you the quantities of meats, fish, beans and suchlike that you should eat in a day.
With six colored stripes denoting the quantities of food you should take, and a figure of a healthy person running up a flight of stairs on the side of it, this new food pyramid is definitely better than the old one, and can help you learn more about better eating habits, and a healthy lifestyle.
All of us need to plan our food pyramid. This article can help you with some useful suggestion on building up your own food pyramid. You also need to do daily exercises and undertake proper weight control measures. A proper food pyramid is the best way as to how you can maintain a balanced healthy diet.
1) Whole Grains Foods: Whole grain foods are healthy foods. Experts have revealed that a person must consume around six servings of whole grain foods per day. Whole grains are considered to be the best source of carbohydrates for our body. Milling removes most nutrition part of the grain.
2) Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and Vegetables contain the greatest amount of nutrients per calorie of any food. Every person needs to consume different types of fruits and vegetables in order to stay healthy. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables prevents dreadful diseases like cancer, heart diseases, blood pressure, intestinal ailments and so on.
3) Fiber: Fiber helps to reduce the risk of certain type of cancer diseases and also lowers the level of cholesterol. Fiber controls the amount of calorie intake and also helps to reduce the weight of a person.
4) Eggs and Fish: Eggs and fish contain large amounts of proteins, Vitamin B, lecithin and choline. Regular consumption of egg improves the health of a person. Eggs are said to be high in cholesterol but low in fats. Fish helps to reduce the risk of heart diseases in a person.
5) Strawberries: They have lots of fiber and vitamins C. Their flavonoids play an important role in strengthening blood vessels and acts as strong antioxidants.
6) Alcohol: Alcohol also acts as healthy food if it is consumed in small quantities. Low volume of alcohol reduces the chances of heart diseases. It also helps to reduce the level of cholesterol by its flavonoids. It is very important to have moderate quantity of alcohol as it has both risk as well as benefits.
7) Nuts and Legumes: Nuts and Legumes contain large amounts of proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals.
Do you know that many people who successfully lose large amounts of weight and are also successful at keeping it off use a diary? This is no ordinary diary though. It is a food loss diary and using it can ensure total success no matter what your weight loss goal may be.
Never underestimated the power of a food diary. Using it daily will ensure you become much more conscious of your current bad eating habits. Through its use you can identify the cause of your weight problems.
So what is a food diary?
Well it is simply a small book you carry with you everywhere you go for at least two weeks. After this you can store it some place safe and refer to it three times a day.
So here is a quick explanation of a food diary:
Week 1.
In your diary on the first page note your current weight. Now for the rest of the week you must make a note of everything you eat during the day. This is why it is so important to carry the small book with you at all times. You must be disciplined in this. Every time you eat anything, even a small piece of meat or a nibble you must enter exactly what you ate and the time at which it was eaten. Then describe your motivations for eating it. Where you really hungry? Was the temptation of it being there too much? Where you feeling lonely or stressed? Take a note of all the feelings that lead you to eat the food.
At breakfast, lunch and dinner list all the foods you ate, why you ate them and how you felt before, during and after you ate them. Also note every bit of exercise to take during the day. It doesn’t matter how small it is just jot it down anyway. Also note when you went to the shops or to pick up the kids or just to get a message. Did you take the car or bus? Describe how you were feeling prior to taking the car or bus. Why did not you walk? Was it too far? Did you not have enough time?
Week 2.
Write down your current weight and follow the plan outlined for week
1. In addition, you can now start to analyse your diary.
Look over your entries for the previous week and the amount of food you ate. What type of food where you eating. Why were you eating it? For example you may have noted that you ate a chocolate bar at 1pm because you were feeling bored. You notice that this is a recurring theme almost everyday. So, go to your empty diary entries for week three and pencil in at the same time of day an activity that will relieve your boredom. If you cannot think of one then pencil in that you will go for a walk or start to do that odd job you have been putting off for months!
Perhaps you ate the chocolate because it gave you a certain feeling you enjoyed. Look at the feeling. Is there anything else you could do that would make you feel the same or a similar way? There are always alternatives. Jot one down in your diary!
Maybe you notice that the temptation to eat the chocolate was too strong to resist because it was just there. Pencil into your diary, on your shopping day, that you are to buy no chocolate!
Now look at your exercise activities for the previous week. When did you take the car when you could have walked? Could you pencil in an extra 15 minutes walking a day. Divide the 15 minutes into three 5 minute exercises, this way it will not seem like that much of a change. Park the car 5 minutes away from the shop. Walk to a bus stop that is 5 minutes further away. Did you not have enough time? Structure your diary to compensate, even if it means getting up 15 minutes earlier.
In this way you can use your diary to set out a plan for the coming week. Be strict with yourself and follow your plan. Tick off the things on your diary one by one as you complete them. Pencil in activities that you have always wanted to do. You will find that organising your food intake and exercise routine in this way will have a major knock-on effect on the rest of your life. You are getting organised!
Your food diary is a also great way of tracking your progress. Make sure you note in it all your accomplishments and list all your weight loss achievements. When you reach week 3 you can begin using your diary only 3 times a day – once in the morning to check your schedule for the day. Once after dinner to note your activities during the day and once at night to review your progress that day and structure the same day for the following week.
It is important to reward yourself every time you succeed at a task that you have put in your diary. Pencil in that at the end of a certain week you will buy yourself new clothes. Constantly review your achievements and give yourself credit for having done so well. This will keep you motivated and ensure you keep to your plan, continue using your diary and of course keep your weight healthy.
Hi everyone, On my blog www. Myomytv. Com I am recording a Food Diary Series this week. I want to illustrate what I try to eat and when, also portion size and the difficulties I face everyday in trying to achieve my body fat goal. On my blog I provide full recipes and nutritional information for all of my meals.
Within your search for locate natural treatment solutions and nutritional supplements to great wellbeing, that you are well advised to bear in mind the original healing ways of the Chinese.
Chinese foods remedy, also called Oriental nourishment treatment, starts back to who are only 2000 British columbia, while proper documentation about its works by using is discovered all over 500 BC. Essentially, Chinese meal therapies will involve prescribed medication food to aid in the recovery of specified body illnesses or assists in maintaining wholesome other bodily functions. Admirers of foods remedy have confidence in the concept of yin and yang in foods the yin foodstuff are viewed as in order to reduce the male body’s rate of metabolism, or lessen the human body’s high temperature, as you move the yang foodstuff have been demonstrated to enhance the male body’s high temperature or improve metabolic process.
Men And Women trust a number of types, which might be entire, vegetables, some fruits and meats. You cannot find any distinction for dairy foods, that happen to be thought to be faulty for humans. China feel a structured diet plan will involve the subsequent meal combos each and every day: 40 % cereals, thirty to forty per-cent produce, 10-15 per-cent foods and the rest of the foods really should be nut products and fruits and veggies.
In Chinese language foods treatment, ingredients are then additional indexed by preference. The style are considered smelly, high sodium, sour, fairly sweet and poisonous. Every single tastes is believed to get a immediate impact on a physique appendage when absorbed moderately it rewards the wood, but when over taken, could potentially cause detrhymental outcome for the appendage.
It really is honest to mention china and followers of Far east food items treatment method truly believe you Inchesare the foods you eatIn.
One easy illustration showing Asian meals treatment therapy is the solution for a hmmm. The Cantonese coughing treatment essential apricot corn kernels, watercress and dry out duck gizzards. The components are slow cooked properly for a number of hrs, and a little bit of pork might be added in for quality (month-to-month are not able to add ground beef or fowl since either will nullify the curing outcomes of the watercress). The watercress eliminates the unnecessary volume of yang within your body, whilst the duck gizzards are added to stability the yin yang from the formula. The plums discuss the respiratory system.
Take your time to on-line massage therapy schools asian healing knowledge – you may just be shocked operate advantages your well being.
Summer is coming and so is the hot weather. Nobody likes to cook in the heat of summer. A really hot meal on a hot day is almost as unpopular. It could be that a cool, easy to prepare summer soup is just what you need.
Below are 3 recipes for soups that can be made in your food processor or blender. If you have the ingredients on hand, none of them take more than 10 minutes to make. They are all delicious, nutritious, and really refreshing on a hot day. While the recipes all suggest you use a food processor, you can get very good results by using a blender or hand blender too.
These are all very simple recipes, so don’t be shy to modify them and get a taste that your whole family can enjoy.
Here are the recipes.
Summer Vegetarian soup This is great tasting soup with a touch of Italy included. It is super easy to make and very healthy. It is particularly good on a hot summer day
an avocado – skin and pit removed of course 4 Roma tomatoes – they may not be quite juicy enough (see below) Basil to taste (Thai basil is really good in this) 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Process How easy is this soup? Simply throw everything into your food processor and mix until it is smooth. If you find that it is more like a smoothie than soup, simply add more liquid (or swap one of the Roma tomatoes for another more juicy variety). Pour into bowls, garnish as you wish (minced chives are nice) and enjoy.
Sensational Salsa & Black Bean
This soup is a very simple soup that takes just a few minutes to prepare. It can be served hot or cold, but always benefits from being heated. Roughly 4 servings
INGREDIENTS: 2 normal sized cans of black beans (any brand is OK, but try for low salt) 1 1/2 cups soup stock (Just use chicken, beef, or vegetable bullion) 1 cup of your favorite salsa (chunky makes a heartier soup) 1 teaspoon cumin (best to use fresh ground in the soup and you can sprinkle seeds on top too) 1/4 cup of sour cream 1-2 green onions chopped fine
Process: Put the beans, salsa, cumin, and soup stock into a food processor (a blender is OK too). Puree the mixture until it is creamy in texture. Pour the mixture into a mid-sized pot and heat on low-medium until it is completely hot. This allows the flavours to merge. If you are going to serve it cold, move it to the fridge to cool off till it is time to eat. To eat it hot, simply serve into bowls and garnish with the onions and some of the sour cream.
MANGO SOUP
Mangos are simply divine. They are great as a fruit, mixed into drinks, added to salads. They also make a really good cool summer soup which is explained below.
Ingredients:
1 large RIPE mango (it will be soft, no squishy, to touch) 2 cups chicken soup stock (make your own or use bullion if you must) 1 TBSP lemon grass (available in most Asian markets, it looks like long greenish reeds when you buy it) 1 TBSP ginger – Freshly chopped is best Ground chili peppers to taste 1 cup yogurt (2% plain is best) 2 TBSP cilantro (chinese parsley) chopped fine
Process: Chop mango and put in food processor. Mix briefly and then put in the ginger, lemon grass, chili and 1/2 cup of soup stock. Mix again till everything becomes very smooth. Move the soup into another bowl (be sure it is large enough) and mix in first the rest of the stock, and then the yogurt. This is best served cold, so put in fridge till you are ready to eat. Then put into bowls and serve with the cilantro as the garnish.
As the temperature starts to go up give these soups a try. They are all very simple and will add a new delicious and healthy dimension to your summer diet.
Learn how to use a food processor to make a healthy raw food yogurt breakfast recipe in this free cooking video on making raw food breakfast recipes. Expert: Denise Bennett Bio: Denise is a Raw food chef. She is a partner in “Light & Love Cafe,” in Sedona Arizona. She is also the owner of “Gentle Soul Cafe” in LA, CA. Filmmaker: Danniel Fishler
You’ve heard about it when you were in school, but you really did not pay too much attention to it. There’s been some talk about it recently but again you just did not have the time to give your full attention to it. Now however, you have enough time on your hands, and besides your kids need help with their schoolwork so you’ll need to learn all about it. What am I talking about? The Food Guide Pyramid of course.
Sometime late in the early mists of science some genius or early nutritionist stumbled across the magical fact that humans needed food to live. This same person also deduced quite rightly that some foods were more important than others. And taking things one step further, this genius saw that even from amongst these categories the foods would again be divided into sections where some of these foods should only be taken in smaller quantities.
At a guess this person probably came up with a complex table or matrix from which to describe the proper daily intake of food for a person in the course of one day. But as will happen, through some method we have instead ended up not with a table or matrix but with the Food Guide Pyramid that graces all doctors’ offices these days.
Well, now you know what the food guide pyramid is, but do you know exactly what it does, and how it works? In the earlier days as little back as five years ago, the food guide pyramid was set in an orderly manner, with the foods that should be consumed most placed on the bottom, and the foods that should be eaten the least placed on the tip of the food guide pyramid.
As of 2005 however, the food guide pyramid as we know it was changed forever, and a new one was built to take its place. Essentially this new food guide pyramid tells you the same story, but it now has added components to be able to help you better understand diet and your health.
This new food guide pyramid actually has a person climbing stairs up the side of the pyramid to show that regular exercise also needs to be included in your overall healthy eating habits. And instead of the horizontal lines that we are so used to seeing, the divisions now radiate down from the tip of the food guide pyramid. What this tells us is that although some food groups are better for us than others, some foods even within a group should only be taken in moderation.
You’ll also notice that this new food guide pyramid sports a dazzling array of rainbow colors as its divisional stripes, and that’s just to make the sections easier to differentiate. With six colored divisions you’ll go through Orange (Grains), Green (Vegetables), Red (Fruits), Yellow (Fats), Blue (Dairy), and Purple (Meats, Beans, Fish). Take a walk through this new food guide pyramid – you might be pleasantly surprised what you find inside.
Roughage compacted foods are available now and encouraged by most wellness professionals for your much better and even more desired chosen lifestyle. It is necessary which you manage cook to enjoy your old age and dodge any health concerns that might be above later on. Protection is superior to treatment and dietary fiber dense meals could certainly promote your effective deterrence plans. Too many people take refined food and expect you’ll burn off rid of it. If you live adept at shedding weight, a burger or chocolate bar won’t help you to move waste material using your method. Without a doubt, they frequently makeup a percentage from the waste material that may block your body from the beginning.
This enzymatic program needs a shot of soluble fiber thick foods in order to work correctly. You have access to a superb dose every day because it helps you to take out throw away through the system by using the body a lot more quickly. Without the need of fibers, you technique would shortly turn into hindered given it would are not ready to wipe out throw away. With fiber content compacted food, the nutrients will likely be distributed around your body although the unwanted products is often passed adequately. For additional information see http:Per/www. i-highfiberdiet. org/ on Roughage Diet regime.
Fiber content Packed Foods: What You Should Take in
There are numerous products that are thought to be fibers lustrous food items, and they’re less unusual because you believe. None is he unexciting and dull, however they do style fantastic! You are able to establish roughage packed products in food markets by checking labelling that should legally be put on meals right now. It is possible to evaluate the fiber content importance of distinct products as some ingredients tight on dietary fiber than other people. More fiber content compacted food items are wholemeal breads, wheat bran high sugar cereals and vegetables and fruit. Nevertheless, you should must also take a look at roughage heavy foodstuff to make certain that they have more affordable nutrient values for the reason that many of them have secret energy to give something additional taste which could lead to weight gain.
It is possible to pick nearly every vegetable or fruit to consume to get who’s was a fiber lustrous foods. All vegetables and fruits are fully healthy products and solutions therefore have zero unpleasant or dangerous properties. Green vegetables particularly are thought dietary fiber dense food. Having just 1 section on a daily basis can guide the aspects of your program. Integrating dietary fiber dense food items in your diet plan will help you prevent health problems down the road. You ought to therefore investigate the alternatives that happen to be in existence available for you if you want your health and well being.
Using proper food storage is very important to your health and your family’s health. It is up to you to provide proper storage solutions for every type of food that comes into your home. This is no easy task. If you plan to store large amounts of food, you need to have the room. It is also important to realize that foods go bad quite easily and quickly. Taking the time to find the right solution to your food storage needs can even help you save money.
Purchasing And Storing
It is quite important for you to purchase foods that are in good condition especially if you will have them in your home for a long period of time. This is especially true for foods that will not last for long, such as fruits and vegetables that are purchased fresh.
But, you can also package them to keep them lasting longer. For example, fresh produce such as vegetables and fruits can be canned or purchased and placed into a vacuum sealing to keep them fresh much longer.
For meats, it is important to use them within their date or to freeze them. You should freeze them properly without defrosting them more than once to use. You can also use a vacuum sealer to do this work as well.
Having Enough Room
One of the biggest problems that many have when it comes to food storage is that it is hard to find enough room in our kitchen cabinets for the products that we purchase. In order to have enough room, you can think outside the box. Using your fridge and freezer effectively is one thing. You can store canned goods in boxes in a cool location as well. You can add bins or containers to your kitchen as well.
Using proper food storage means keeping everyone happy and healthy!
Food poisoning is a sepsis(The presence of harmful microorganisms or associated toxins in the blood and tissues), that is caused by consuming foods that are contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. These contaminations are normally as a result of improper handling, storage or preparation of food. Pesticides added to food can also add in the likelyhood of consumption of the viruses. Contact that Pests, such as flies and cockroaches have with food, further increases the change of contamination.
Because symptoms often don’t occur for several hours after the contaminated food is eaten, it is hard at times t• ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ and figure out exactly where it came from. Initial Food Poisoning symptoms generally include: vomiting, diarrhea, fever, nausea, abdominal pain, headache or tiredness. Typically our body is able to recover by itself from the poisoning, after a short period of time. In rare cases, especially with babies and pregnant women, food poisoning can result in permanent health problems, and in even more extreme cases, death.
The time that passes between the food consuption and the actual presence of the virus, is known as the incubation period. During this period microbes are passed through the stomach and into the intestine where they attach the cells that line the intestinal wall. They then being to multiply.
Practicing good hygiene during the three stages of food preparation(before, after, during), can greatly reduce the chance of food poisoning. Be smart about your health and take the necessary precautions when working with food.
