Beer Bellies A Myth?
September 22, 2007
Beer Bellies A Myth?
by: Andrea Nichol
Beer bellies, for some beer drinkers, are a prideful symbol of their greatest passion: drinking beer. They proudly display their rounded protuberances as testimony to their excessive consumption of their chosen ambrosia. Are beer bellies caused by an excessive intake of beer? Not according to some scientists, who claim that beer bellies are a myth and not caused by foamy goodness at all.
Typically, the beer belly has been considered a man’s province or tendency as over time, and with much flexing of arm muscles as they bring glass to mouth, the belly grows with age and consumption. Usually, when women gain weight, they often do so first on their thighs and hips, not their bellies. Women may develop a pot belly, but it is rarely referred to as a beer belly and is likely caused by age and childbirth.
How I Made Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies In Simple, Super Easy Steps
September 21, 2007
I was sitting there watching one of my favorite tv shows when a cookie craving hit me. As I watched one of the main characters take her chocolate chip cookies off the baking sheet, I drooled at the prospect of some freshly baked cookies.
I wanted something that was easy, quick, and didn’t require me to go out and buy ingredients. So I searched the Internet, figuring peanut butter cookies would do the trick. I was surprised to find a peanut butter cookie recipe that didn’t require flour. In fact, it didn’t require many ingredients at all.
My curiousity peaked, I tried it out:
Flourless, 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- 1 cup sugar (or 3/4 cup, if you prefer)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)
Combine sugar and egg in mixing bowl, stirring until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix thoroughly. Roll into walnut-sized balls.
Place the balls on ungreased cookie sheet(s) at least 2″ apart. Flatten with the tines of a fork, then turn the 90 degrees and use fork again t create cross hatches.
Why Australia for Fine Wines?
September 20, 2007
Why Australia for Fine Wines?
by: Lindsay Lewis
Australia, the land DownUnder, has become a major and exciting force in international wines. Australian wine is taking the world by storm, due to the quality of the grape stock combined with the skill and experience of its winemakers. This enables it to produce a superb and wide range of Australian wine styles.
This island continent features wines as varied as its terrain. Most people know of Australian Shiraz - that fruit-forward wine now known and enjoyed around the world. These fabulous ‘fruit bombs’ represent but a small part of the overall Australian winemaking scene.
Australia is sometimes described as the perfect wine producing country. It has a land mass as great as the United States or Western Europe, with a diverse climate from cold to cool to warm, and a wide variety of soil types, including the famous Coonawarra terra rossa. These natural advantages coupled with the irrepressible free-spirited character of the Australian people, has encouraged Australian winemakers to build on the great traditions of winemaking, to create delicious wines of stunning quality, diversity and uniqueness.
Ideal Wine Temperature
September 19, 2007
The ideal temperature to store wines is between 55ºF and 58ºF (13ºC?15ºC). However, any temperature between 40º?65ºF (5º?18ºC) will suffice as long as it remains constant. The degree and the speed of the temperature change are critical. A gradual change of a few degrees between summer and winter won’t matter. The same change each day will harm your wines by ageing them too rapidly.
The most important rule when storing wine is to avoid large temperature changes or fluctuations. You’ll notice damage of this nature straight away from the sticky deposit that often forms around the capsule. Over time the continual expansion and contraction of the wine will damage the ‘integrity’ of the cork. It’s like having the cork pulled in and out again every day. When this happens, minute quantities of wine may be pushed out along the edge of the cork (between the cork and the bottle neck) allowing air to seep back in. Once the air is in contact with your wine the irreversible process of oxidation begins and your wine is ruined. At 55º to 58ºF the wine will age properly, enabling it to fully develop. Higher temperatures will age wine more rapidly and cooler temperatures will slow down the ageing process. Irreversible damage will be done if your wine is kept at a temperature above 82ºF for even a month. At 55°F wines will age slowly and develop great complexity and you will never have to worry about them.
Baking with Jam
September 18, 2007
Baking with Jam
by: Kit Heathcock
Jam-making is over for the year, the summer heat has finished off the strawberries, the apricot season went by in the blink of an eye, it’s too hot to think of cooking anything at all until evening cools the air. Even the memory of standing over a simmering pot of jam makes me perspire.
The dog days of summer have us heading for the beach or pool, sandwiches for lunch, the swiftest of stir-fries or pasta dishes for supper, so I can get quickly out of the kitchen again to eat outside. Baking has been reduced to a minimum, bought biscuits replace home-made, the bread is baked in the evening so as not to heat up the house unnecessarily in the sweltering daytime. The jam, fruit of my spring labour, stays on the shelf in the larder, half used pots hide in the fridge, the pots of apricot jam that I burnt (yes it happened again, when I turned my back for five minutes, so much for learning from experience) wait for me to get baking again to be used up.
10 Smart Shopping Tips To Protect Your Family From Getting Sick
September 17, 2007
Prevention of food poisoning starts with your trip to the supermarket. Here’s how to start off safely.
1. Pick up your packaged and canned foods first. Buy cans and jars that look perfect. Don’t buy canned goods that are dented, cracked or bulging. These are the warning signs that dangerous bacteria may be growing in the can.
2. Look for any expiration dates on the labels and never buy outdated food. Likewise, check the “use by” or “sell by” date on dairy products such as cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, and sour cream and pick the ones that will stay fresh longest in your refrigerator.
3. Check eggs, too. Choose eggs that are refrigerated in the store. Before putting them in your cart, open the carton and make sure that the eggs are clean and none are cracked or broken.
4. Raw meat, poultry, and seafood sometimes drip. The juices that drip may have germs. Keep these juices away from other foods. Put raw meat, poultry, and seafood into plastic bags before they go into the cart. Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart and in your refrigerator.
School Lunches the Frugal Way!
September 17, 2007
It seems that school starts earlier every year. So it’s time to start thinking about what to put in those school lunches every morning.
My children always wanted to bring their own lunches because they didn’t really like what was offered in the school lunchroom. But it was sometimes a little difficult to make their lunches nutritious and tasty and also to put a little variety in their lunchboxes without spending a small fortune.
If we let ourselves, we can spend a “lot” on individual servings, lunchables, and treats for lunches. Here are a few ideas to help you meet the “Frugal Lunchbox Challenge”.
Go to the Dollar Store and buy a few of those individual serving-size storage containers. These are very inexpensive and they are worth every penny.
You can use them for any number of things–like making your own fruit cups and pudding cups.
And they can also be used to hold dip for carrot or celery sticks or fill with peanut butter and pack a zipper bag of pretzels for dipping.
Learning About Food Allergies
September 16, 2007
Learning About Food Allergies
by: Gray Rollins
Food allergies affect approximately 4 million Americans with symptoms that can include difficulty breathing, an outbreak of hives, asthma, vomiting, and even death. Oftentimes food allergies are confused with an inability to tolerate certain foods. Food intolerance usually brings about an entirely different set of symptoms including a bloated feeling, gas, or other similar type of discomfort.
Food Allergies or Food Intolerance
An easy way to distinguish food allergies from food intolerances is to understand that an allergic reaction actually originates in a person’s immune system. A severe allergic reaction can result in suffocation when the throat or the tongue swells so much that a person cannot breathe. Given the fact that approximately 150 people in the United States die each year from food allergies, this condition is no laughing matter.
Individuals with known food allergies usually inherit this condition from another member of the family. When food allergy patients are studied, it is common to see that conditions such as eczema, hay fever, and asthma affect other family members. http://www.withallergies.com/helpwithallergies/
Foods That Cause Allergies
Breadmaker Recipes
September 15, 2007
Breadmaker Recipes
by: Lynne Birch
When bread makers first came out years back people felt that all you could use them for was plain white bread. Well that is not even close to being true any more. There are now dozens of fantastic recipes available for all kinds of bread. What you will find is that the ingredients you use in a bread machine will be a little different than if you were baking bread normally. The results are just as good however.
Below is a selection of recipes that are very simple to make, very affordable, and most of all, deliciously healthy. They only take a few minutes to prepare and the results will make everyone happy. So go ahead and try them out. Crack open your breadmaker and give one of these yummy recipes a try.
Basic White Bread
1 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons powdered milk
2 TBSP oil (l usually use canola)
1 tsp salt
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp yeast
Just use the standard wet on the bottom dry on top mixing process. This is delicious with butter and honey while it is still hot.
Design Tips for a Great Kids Birthday Cake
September 14, 2007
Design Tips for a Great Kids Birthday Cake
by: Stephen Houlihan
These days, you can probably buy just about any style of child’s birthday cake already made. But there is nothing like the sense of satisfaction from making that special cake just for your child - after all, they have each birthday only once!
There’s also the benefit of being able to control what ingredients are actually used in making the cake. Apart from producing a healthier cake, you can also cater for any allergies that your child or his/her friends may have.
Once you have decided to make the cake yourself, here are some tips to help you:
1. Don’t worry if you failed Art 101 dismally. Remember that kids don’t expect you to turn out a design worthy of da Vinci. Often they are more interested in the number (and color) of pieces of candy on top of the cake than the actual design itself.
