Family Cooking Tips

Archive for November, 2009

Do you hate your salad spinner because it takes up too much space and is only good for drying lettuce? This is, after all, what salad spinners were made to do. When it comes to the salad spinner, the two most features that cause problem are obviously the spinning mechanism that usually break after a year or so if you are using it every day and then the crumbling plastic spinner basket. You need a good and durable spinner. It comes with a special lid that locks all the moisture and natural aroma and goodness of the greens and herbs inside the spinner without allowing them to escape.
hough it is made of plastic, the construction is fairly sturdy and does not emanate any obnoxious chemical smell or leech plastic into the salad. It is in deed very thoughtful of the Zyliss to equip the spinner with non slip base so that it does not skid or vibrate during fast spinning action. This saves a lot of time and it is highly useful for those who make large amount of salad everyday. That’s why many families have switched to the ready-made salads. The inner bowl has drain holes, and is spun by the crank. I got it around and repent for having bought such a stupid spinner.
After having a bitter experience and wasting money on a number of plastic salad spinners including the Oxo and Zyliss, I finally moved on to stainless steel spinners. When using greens, rinse under cold water and shake off excess and most of the moisture so that salad dressing will cling to salad and so your salad dressing does not become watered down. If you ask me, the best and almost no problem salad spinner is the Zyliss Stainless Steel Salad Spinner that runs by cord triggered spinning mechanism. This is a very simple to use apparatus that gives really great results. Since then I have become an avid Zyliss devotee and own many of their products. Salad spinners are actually great for several different projects.
I was told that this brand is promoted by Amazon and expected a lot in spite of the low cost. Though it is expensive, I would highly recommend this to all those who make salad often as this not just serves the purpose but also can be used as a multifunctional handy kitchen tool. It can hold 6 quarts of greens and fresh leaves without cramming them into the spinner. Though it does not have any anti slip feet at the bottom like Zyliss, the two circular rough lines going around the steel bowl gives good amount of grip.

When it comes to organic baby food products, organic fruits, vegetables, and all other types of food, you may be still up in the air over whether or not you want to eat organically. A person will definitely switch over to organic foods after knowing it’s importance.

Reasons to go For Organic Food Production

The organic food production field is really pumping these days. More people than ever before are turning to organic foods and making this their preference, and this results in making the organic food production increase even more. If a person has confusion about organic food production and their intake then these are few things that he should not ignore.

One of the main reasons why you will want to learn more about organic food production and start eating organically yourself is because you will get a better flavor with your foods. Especially when you compare between organic foods and those foods that have been grown using pesticides and other chemicals, you will notice a huge difference.

Organic foods are liked by large number of people as it is free from the taste of pesticides and chemicals.

Another reason to start eating organic food and support the organic food production in the world is because you can help to prevent soil erosion. This is a very important factor and you have to keep in mind that it is estimated that 3 million tons of topsoil or more are eroded from the United States lone, and that the soil is eroding even faster than normal.

This is considered to be related to the chemicals that are used in a lot of farming situations, and so when you are eating organically you are ensuring that soil erosion is stopped or at least declines as much as possible.

It is easy to see just how important it is to eat organically, and there are more than enough reasons that should help you realize why you should make the switch now. You are not only going to be doing good for yourself here but also you are going to be making sure that you are doing what you can for the environment.

Everyday we are told what we shouldn’t eat, what we should eat or how frequently we should or should not be eating it and with the hundreds of diet regimes (many of which are supported by celebrities with amazing figures) it is truly amazing that we mere mortals are able to feed ourselves at all!

A confusing topic that comes up quite often is eating beef and other red meats. It might be that we struggle with this one because it’s just so tasty and there aren’t many people who won’t salivate at the mention of a juicy beef steak. But the conflicting recommendations available on the Internet, in magazines and on TV about red meat has turned it into a guilty pleasure and the ‘My Body is a Temple’ types to the ordinary families may choose to cross it off the food list altogether or spend hours working it off at the gym.

“Eating beef on a daily basis is bad for you and it sits in your stomach rotting long after you have eaten it. Red meat is full of fat and contributes to heart disease.”

Sound familiar?

How about if I told you that red meat can be perfectly healthy and that you can eat steak every day if you want to. Getting the right balance with complimentary foods and eating in moderation is the key to a health diet. It isn’t eating red meat that is the problem; it’s the quality of that beef and what you eat with it.

Avoid: Processed red meats such as burgers and frozen meats with additives
Instead: Choose fresh cuts of organic beef from cattle that is pasture-raised

Avoid: Eating bread with beef For example, Hamburgers
Instead: Serve fresh salad and vegetables with beef. These contain fat busting enzymes.

Preparing a healthy Steak meal is simple:

1. Purchase some organic meat from a trusted retailer
2. Grill or fry in the meats juices to however you like it
3. Add a good portion of any of the following fat busting foods: Asparagus, Beets/Beetroot, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Cucumbers, Garlic Lettuce, Radish, Horseradish, Tomato.

If you want to keep it healthy but add more flavor to your steak? Simply add crushed peppercorns, crushed garlic, mixed herbs, rosemary or other herb during cooking. Or you could marinade the beef before cooking with natural yoghurt and a mix of herbs and spices. Yum!

Other Resources:

Beef Choices (PDF at beeffoodservice.com)

You might think it’s impossible to eat your favorite foods and lose weight, but with the Cheat Your Way Thin program, you can do just that. Fitness expert, Joel Marion, has developed an amazing plan that lets you eat burgers, pizza, ice cream, pie and all your other favorite foods as part of a fat loss program that really works.

The basic idea of Joel’s fat loss plan is simple: eat balanced, healthy foods for the majority of the week, and then have a “cheat” meal. Your cheat meal can be any of your favorite foods–steak and baked potato with all the trimmings, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, hot fudge sundae–whatever you crave. You simply follow the healthy eating program and once a week you get to “cheat” any way you like.

Sinful as that sounds, the “cheat” meal is actually scientifically proven to help you lose more weight than just healthy eating.  The fat and carbohydrates in it will stoke your metabolism to burn fat like a fire.

Being able to occasionally eat your high-calorie, favorite foods will actually give you more energy. That’s because eating a low-calorie diet for too long makes your body think it’s starving which makes you feel run down and exhausted.

When you follow the Cheat Your Way Thin plan, you can eat your favorite foods for your “cheat” meals and not feel an ounce of guilt. Imagine a savory breakfast of pancakes, bacon, and eggs that you can enjoy-guilt free because you ate healthy before it, and you’ll eat healthy after. In addition, the “cheat” meal is actually giving you the fat-burning energy you need to reach your weight loss goal.

Who knew your delicious, favorite foods could actually HELP you get into the best shape of your life? With Cheat Your Way Thin, they can.

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