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goji berry benefitsChinese Food - Eating With Chopsticks

If you've ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant you will be familiar with those long thin utensils, which are traditionally used to eat Chinese food. Yes, I'm talking about chopsticks. These versatile and efficient objects are actually reasonably easy to use despite appearances to the contrary. In fact with a little practice, one can become proficient in their use.

History shows that chopsticks have been in use since the time of the Shang Dynasty which ruled China between 1600 BC and 1046 BC. The chopsticks from those times would have been made of all sorts of different materials such as bamboo, bronze or ivory and decorated with enamel or lacquer or even gold or silver. A collection of more that one thousand pairs can be seen in the Kuaizi Museum in Shanghai. These days, bamboo or plastic is more usual.

Chopsticks are normally eight to ten inches in length but whereas Japanese ones taper almost to a point, Chinese chopsticks only narrow very slightly towards the end.

It's a little hard to explain how to use chopsticks without the benefit of pictures, but in essence your hand should be vertical as if you were about to shake hands, then curl your fingers round as if you were about to grasp a glass tumbler. Place the chopsticks on the side of your hand and rest your thumb on top of them. Now move your index finger out of the way slightly so that the chopsticks are resting on the side of your middle finger then slip the one nearest to your thumb to the end of your index finger so that it's resting on your fourth and little fingers. By moving your thumb and index finger slightly, the end of one chopstick will move back and forth, enabling you to pick up food. Try practicing by picking up pieces of cotton wool or other quite small items. You'll be amazed how easy it is to master the knack.

Because the Chinese use chopsticks to eat, they prepare their food accordingly. Meat and vegetables are usually sliced into thin strips, which also makes them very quick to cook. Dumplings are a little bigger but still small enough to be gripped with chopsticks and rice can be scooped straight from the bowl to the mouth. The only other implement on offer when dining Chinese style would be a soup spoon, from which it is quite alright to slurp as this is not impolite in Chinese circles.

However, there is strict etiquette surrounding the use of chopsticks. For example spearing something like a dumpling, standing chopsticks vertically in a bowl of food, sucking or licking them, waving them around particular at other people and using them to pull a dish of food towards you are all considered very bad manners.

While some of the above are just tradition, the reason for not standing chopsticks upright in a bowl of food is that their appearance resembles that of incense sticks which are lit in remembrance of the dead. To the Chinese, each meal is a celebration of life so they don't usually mix eating with grieving.

Liz Canham
As well as a love of Asian Food and Cookery, Liz seeks to help newcomers to the world of internet marketing with tools, tips and training from her Liz-e-Biz.com website.

Choosing The Best Ice Cream Maker

You can make delicious ice cream at home, as good as any premium store brand, if you choose a good ice cream maker and follow a few tips. Ice cream makers can range in price from under $100 to over $500. The more expensive models contain built in freezing compressors. The less expensive models are perfectly suited for use in the home and come in two basic types. There is the type that uses rock salt and ice to cool the ice cream mixture and the type that has a canister that is placed in the freezer. Each of these is equipped with an electric crank or a manual crank. Your particular needs will determine which is right for you.

If you want to make a large quantity of ice cream, you will need to purchase a model that uses rock salt and ice. The canister models will only make up to 1.5 quarts at a time. If you would like to turn ice cream making into a family activity, you can choose the hand-crank model, which will also use rock salt and ice. The crank must be turned manually for a fairly long period of time, thus allowing each family member a turn. An electric crank is quite a bit easier than the manual crank models. You will also get more consistent results due to the bowl turning at a constant speed. Most electric crank ice cream makers will have an automatic cut off feature that will stop the motor when the ice cream reaches the desired consistency. The consistency is judged by the amount of resistance while the bowl is turning.

After you choose which type of ice cream maker is right for you, you will need to find the perfect ice cream recipe. Remember that the faster the ice cream freezes, the better it will taste and the smoother the texture will be. It will be best to pre-mix all your ingredients and let them chill for several hours before placing them in the ice cream maker. When your ice cream is done, it will resemble soft-serve ice cream. You can place the canister in the freezer for a few hours and you will be much happier with the results. If your canister is plastic, consider removing the ice cream as soon as it is done, and placing it in a metal bowl covered with foil. The metal will allow the ice cream to freeze faster and become firmer more quickly than in a plastic container.

You can purchase a mix that is quite easy to make into ice cream very quickly. While the mixes are convenient, the best homemade ice cream is made from fresh ingredients. Milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and cocoa if you desire will give you the best results. You can find numerous ice cream recipes, some which require cooking some which require no cooking. The ice cream recipes that do not require cooking are generally just as good as the cooked type, and require a lot less time. The best ice cream recipes usually contain eggs, however there are many recipes that do not use eggs if you or someone in your family is allergic to eggs.

This article has been provided courtesy of Kitchen Junkie. Kitchen Junkie offers great kitchen articles available for reprint and other tools to help you get the best bargain on kitchen gadgets and more.

Hawaiian Organic Honey - A Culinary Treasure Of The Big Island

Rarity is often enough to add significant value to an item, especially in the case of art, jewellery and similar collectibles. In many cases, the rarity of an item is closely associated with the location from which it came. Over the course of many years there have been instances when this combination also applied to food and drink; for example, fine wines or a rare sort of animal or plant that is considered edible (and has become desirable).

However, there is one additional factor to consider - quality in workmanship, natural appearance or, in the case of food and drink, taste. Standing alone among specialty food items in the modern market, because of both its rarity and overall quality, is tropical honey from the nectar of Kiawe flowers.

A unique combination of geography, natural irrigation and atmospheric conditions creates a habitat on the Big Island of Hawaii ideal for the cultivation of raw honey. Beekeepers have harvested excellent honey from the islands for some time, with nearly a million pounds of honey coming from the area known as the Puako Forest annually. But in recent years, particular attention to selection of the raw honey results in a product that is literally unrivalled in its purity, texture and overall taste.

For some, it may be enough that this tropical honey comes only from a small section of a very special part of the world. That alone would separate it, in quality and taste, from much of the honey produced around the globe. But beginning with an exquisite raw honey just may not be sufficient to get this special condiment to those who appreciate its organic purity. Something else is necessary - meticulous attention to detail during the entire post-harvest process.

Harvesting Kiawe honey involves timing, a factor critical in most honey processes. Raw honey taken too early may ferment in the jar, but if it is taken too late it crystallizes in the comb. If the honey is handpicked at just the correct time, and put into containers correctly, it will manifest a superior white, smooth texture in just a few days.

Taking the combs at just the right moment would be enough to separate the final product from other honey. Yet there is one more step to consider, or in this case, a step to leave out. Raw Kiawe honey is a living food. Experienced producers know that cold-bottling honey retains its wonderful texture and preserves healthy, natural enzymes. While leaving heat out of the process produces an ideal tropical honey, the viscosity (thickness) does slow down processing, again contributing to the rarity of the finished product.

Connoisseurs know there are some excellent raw honey sources around the world, and that fine honey is available on every continent. But a growing number of aficionados consider Kiawe tropical honey from the Big Island of Hawaii to be a natural treasure with few, if any, culinary peers.

Casey Markee is a consultant with worldwide tropical honey producer Volcano Island Honey located on the Big Island of Hawaii. A luxury staple in such chains as Neiman-Marcus and Bloomingdales, Volcano Island organic raw honey is an example of the many fine Hawaiian gifts available for purchase from Big Island online retailers this holiday shopping season.

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Natural Remedy article

goji berry plantDepression & Breakfast: Is Cereal for Breakfast Keeping You Depressed?

Not so long ago, on advice from a naturopath, I tried a low GI muesli with almond milk for breakfast. Supposedly healthy right? For the next few hours I felt like I was fighting to stop from drowning. My emotions dived to their darkest depths they had in many years. Had I not been aware of what I was normally like in the morning (when not having cereal for breakfast) I would have been ready to crawl into bed to hide for days, or worse... Thankfully the feeling passed by midday and I was back to my normal self.

When I have cereal for breakfast it makes me depressed. How come the Doctor doesn't know to tell me that? I haven't had cereal for breakfast for over 6 years. Not porridge, not low GI muesli, not flakes, biscuits or bubbles. Only 3 generations ago there was no such thing as a breakfast cereal but now most people can't imagine what you would have for breakfast if you couldn't have something in a bowl with a white liquid on it.

I am not suggesting that everyone skips cereal for breakfast (although I could probably justify it). The important thing is to find out what works for you. Some people do better starting the day with protein, some with carbohydrates. Try something different for a few days and see if your depression lifts.

You may notice the difference immediately and never want to go back. Make a note to check in with yourself through out the morning. Make an appointment in your calendar or set the alarm on your watch to remind you to see how your doing. Also, ask people who you spend time with in the morning to notice if you seem different as well.

So what can you eat instead of cereal for breakfast? Many cultures around the world do not have cereal for breakfast. Instead they have something to eat that would eat at any other time of the day. For example, left overs from the night before, baked beans, steamed broccoli, tuna salad, tofu and leafy greens, even an omelette that includes vegetables. And no, two pieces of raison toast or a blueberry muffin are not good substitutes. We're aiming for good protein sources.

What about asking friends for ideas? Do you know anyone from non-western backgrounds? If so, ask them what they have for breakfast � many cultures around the world don't have breakfast out of a box so there must be answers out there.

But what about the time it takes to prepare something other than cereal for breakfast? For the 9-5 lifestyle, being able to throw something in a bowl put white liquid on it and then bolt out the door saves time in the mornings. My question is: How important is your health to you? Ok I'll stop preaching from on high. Time is a consideration in the mornings and I imagine that having to come up for something for children as well only adds to the pressure. What about a large pan of scrambled eggs, a saucepan of beans, or a large salad with left over sausages?

What about the additional cost? Cereal is cheap but you get what you pay for. Are you currently paying for depression medication? If you can reduce or eliminate your medication by changing what you eat for breakfast then you will have freed up some money to buy quality food instead.

If you have a protein breakfast, what about calcium from milk? So, the dairy industry has you convinced that you can't get enough calcium from other sources, eh? If you want to try the experiment of not having cereal for breakfast for a few days, have it for you last meal of the day instead. I know it might feel like your back in college and have nothing else to eat but if you do well with higher protein in the mornings you will probably also do well with higher carbs at night. Try it and see � the kids will love the novelty.

Remember, its about finding out what works for you. We all have different metabolic types that require different ratios of proteins and carbohydrates at different times of the day. By varying our diet and noticing the difference in how we feel we can work out what is just right for each of us.

Rod Sherwin is an EFT Practitioner and runs Tap4Health in Melbourne, Australia. Rod has over 6 years of studying advanced health technologies such as Emotional Freedom Techniques(EFT), Metabolic Typing, and NLP. He has worked with Anthony Robbins in a leadership capacity all over the world and enjoys building the fires that people walk on to transform fear into power. Click here to see a recent television interview with Rod.

Tap4Health is unique if that we offer a Success Guarantee to clients. If you do not feel you have received significant results from treatment you receive your money back! It's that simple. For more information see Tap4Health.

Losing It My Way!

Diets! We all have been on one from time to time and some of us never get off trying different diets in hopes of shedding the excess pounds. We often talk about the perfect diet for ourselves and the best way to keep our energy up when we workout (workout nutrition). After reading many opinions on this subject I have come to a conclusion that there is a difference between the perfect regimen and the perfect regimen for YOU!

I am not talking about the diet that creates the best physical response. We all can agree on that some dietary practices are very close to perfect, but either people don�t stick to them because these diets are too strict or remove the foods that you love to eat from the diet.

We all have heard the phrase "The best diet is the one that you will stick with." But yet most do not follow this simple rule that is needed to keep off the pounds for life.

Pick out a diet book/program and try to follow it to the letter and I guarantee you that within a week you�ll either have quit the program or moved on to another program. You will only last so long doing a diet just as it is, everyone must take a diet and make it their own.

Over the past two years I have been on a journey to designing a diet that both I can stick with and a diet that my body absolutely loves and gives me the needed energy to do my workouts and see the results I desire out of my daily efforts.

• I rely on chicken, turkey, beef, tuna and eggs as my main protein sources with small amounts of whey protein around my workouts and evening snack. I could do better in variety of course but this is what works for me and it�s easier to meal plan.

• One thing that I have learned over these two years is if the food tastes too good I will overeat it! One of my strategies is to not make my meals too tasty but keep them edible this prevents me from overeating and keep me accountable to my goals better.

• Most of the time I eat the exact same foods every day, I know not too tasty and its boring but its edible, easier to prepare, I can cook in bulk and this saves me time for the more important things in life such as caring for my parents.

• Since my carbohydrate tolerance is very low I do need to watch how many grams I consume of carbohydrates each day this ensures that my performance does not decline and my body is a happy camper. I also need to limit my fruit intake as this triggers my body to pack on the body fat.

• When I travel I either take almonds or a protein bar with me, this has saved me money and has kept me accountable to my goals and most importantly my love for fast foods has been diminished and that�s a very good thing!

That's my top 5 things that I do to make a diet my own. Curious what you all do make your diet your own.

Conclusions?

I believe that a person needs to establish the amount of calories he/she needs to eat to maintain there weight and fuel up workouts this will make it easier for the person to shed the pounds more effectively after all it�s the energy balance equation we are looking for, eat too many calories then what your body burns and you will gain body fat burn more calories then what you consume and you will lose body fat it is simple but most people don�t use the energy balance theory.

Some people can eat many things, many people can only eat some things, a few people can eat anything, any people can eat a few things and all people have to figure out for themselves what things they can and can't eat. I can't tell you what will work for you and personally I'm not listening to anyone else but my own good judgment for myself and what my body tells me. It's worked pretty well for me going on two years now.

Nelson Roque is a Fitness/Body Mind Weight Loss Mentor who has lost 75 lbs; he is also a sports nutritionist who focuses on total body well-being.

For more information please visit the following website for daily inspiration and motivation to get your journey of a healthy active lifestyle started.

http://www.theweightingroom.com

If you have any questions, concerns or need help with getting motivated / inspired you may contact me at nelson@theweightingroom.com