Fine Old Recipes

A healthy diet includes seafood. It not only provides you with high quality protein, it provides omega-3 fatty acids and many other essentials to health. In order to get your full nutrition and value from seafood, you need to know how to handle it right. Following these basic safety rules will keep your seafood safe and delicious.

When you go to buy fish at the grocery store or in a seafood shop, the fish should be displayed either in a refrigerated unit or on a thick bed of fresh ice. The entire fish area should smell clean and fresh, not at all fishy. Take a close look at the seafood. The eyes on whole fish should be slightly bulged and clear. There are only a few types of fish that have cloudy eyes and most are not commonly sold at the market.

Both fillets and whole fish should have flesh that is firm and shiny. The gills should be a nice bright red and there should be no evidence of slime. Dull colored meat could mean the fish has been sitting there too long. If you press the meat with your finger, it should spring back. Fillets should not look like they are drying out or darkening around the edges. There should be no yellow or green discoloration and there should be no areas that look dry or mushy.

Shellfish come with a tag or label from their processors. No fishmonger should have a problem showing you these tags or labels if you request it. Really good ones will have them displayed with the seafood. These tags are marked with the processor’s certification number and other information you may need to know about your seafood.

Toss any oysters, clams, or mussels that are cracked or broken. To check whole ones, tap on the shells. Live shellfish will close up tightly when tapped. If they do not close, pass them by. Lobsters and crabs that are purchased alive should be showing some leg movement. They spoil very fast, so buying these foods live is the only way to guarantee what you are getting is fresh.

Once you get home, put the seafood in the fridge if you will be eating it within two days. Any longer than that and you had better consider freezing it. Living seafood should be eaten that same day if possible. Frozen seafood should be thawed gradually overnight in the refrigerator. Follow standard cleanliness routines and sanitize your hands, knives and cutting board to prevent cross contamination.

It does not matter if you are making a full seafood meal or some easy appetizers. Always make sure your seafood is cooked properly. Fish will turn an opaque color and flake easily when it is done. Lobster and shrimp will take on an opaque pearly quality when they are perfectly cooked. Scallops will be a nice milky white and firm to the touch. Oysters, mussels, and clams are done when their shells open. Discard any that do not open.

These steps will help ensure that your seafood turns out perfectly. Your guests and family need to have a meal that is not only delicious, but also safe to eat. The worst that can happen is that someone gets sick from your food. These simple rules will keep your seafood safe and delicious.

What are your favorite dip recipes? Perhaps your favorite dip is French onion. This dip is incredibly easy to make. If you like a creamy spinach dip, you can make that one from scratch, too. You can even take all the cheese scraps in your fridge and blend them together to make a great spread.

Quick and easy meals are the solution to today’s busy family schedules.  Most of the time, families rely on fast food and drive- throughs in order to accommodate their busy schedules. This is not healthy and there is a better alternative. Meal planning has become a popular option for many families who are finding the convenience of fast food has a negative effect on the family budget and health. By adding healthy, quick and easy meals to the meal plan, today’s families are finding a better option to “fast food”.

This may sound familiar. You arrive home after a long day. You realize that you did not plan what you were going to have for dinner. You end up finding some canned vegetables and a few freezer burnt chicken tenders in the freezer. You serve it for dinner and endure  many complaints and jokes from the family. They end up eating junk food and you end up throwing the dinner away.

Meal planning is becoming more popular in many households because of this common occurrence. Families are finding that  planning their meals and incorporating quick and easy meals to accommodate their busy schedule is the solution. Meal planning takes away the “What’s for dinner?” stress, and saves money by avoiding throwing away the food that no one wants to eat.

Some families find eating out  is more convenient because it is late when they get home and it is just easier.

However,there are many benefits to meal planning:

1. Every member of the family can help in preparing the meal . Take a few minutes and go over everybody’s schedule for the week and listen to any requests your family may have.

2. Meal plans ensure that your family is getting a well balanced meal.

3. When you plan your meal , you are also planning your grocery list. You will know exactly what you need for the week’s meals, and avoid making extra trips to the grocery store throughout the week.

4. Meal planning will save you time. You can plan meals based on your schedule. Planning allows you to start the prep work the night before in anticipation of a busy day, or schedule quick and easy meals for busy nights. That way, all the hard work is already done.

Implementing a meal plan will help bring your family closer and save money.

Chocolate is the new ‘Black’. Its making waves in all the health circles, as its health benefits appeal to medical and health practitioners with diverse educations and specialties. Laboratory studies reveal its potent anti-oxidant actions, and ‘chocolate parties’ reveal a great many other positive effects. We’ve all seen the surveys where many women would prefer chocolate over sex (this does not seem to be the case in European countries, however); add to this the results of an Italian study mentioning that women who eat chocolate have more sex, and the subject gets a little spicy. Spicy enough even to consider adding a healthy dose of chocolate to your life? Need more reasons? Chocolate makes your bones more dense, it prevents heart disease, its thought to attract abundance, and its full of mood-boosting and intelligence-boosting neurotransmitter precursors. Healthy, wealthy, wise and happy. So it is as easy and eating all the Hershey’s bars you can get a hold of? Well, not quite…

Like so many things in our modern world, its the processing of chocolate that makes all the difference. This isn’t just the New Age Hippy types saying this either (as one, the author feels comfortable making this statement). The scientists measuring all the chemicals in our food, telling us which bits are good and which are bad are saying it to. It’s RAW, minimally-processed chocolate that’s the miracle food. Un-roasted, un-cooked plain old powdered chocolate, better known as ‘Cacao’, is far superior in every way for your health. It’s called a ‘superfood’ by many, as it’s list of super-good for you super-nutrients is extensive. Note that ‘organic’ does not mean ‘raw’. Even the premium organic hot-chocolate powders found in the high-end health food stores is still roasted and usually processed with alkali (called ‘Dutch Processing’, making it easier to dissolve in water, and destroying most of the antioxidants at the same time). This means that 99% of the chocolate products on the shelves are NOT the superfood you wished they were, but it also points the direction to how to include chocolate in your life on an exceptionally health daily basis. We’ll get to some recipes in a moment, but first a few points to help you remember why raw chocolate is where it’s at.

For lots of folks, and, there’s the question of caffeine. Many are sensitive to caffeine’s effect on their nervous system. And many people find chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, has enough caffeine to make them uncomfortable or keep them awake. Yet research has shown a significant difference in the stimulating effects of chocolate depending on whether it’s been roasted. A drink of roasted chocolate powder caused excitation of the nervous system whereas the raw chocolate powder drink did not. Scientists find that many molecules change shape when heat is applied, and roasting is a pretty hot, lengthy process. Alteration of chemical structure through heat is common, and very likely to occur in the case of chocolate. The roasting process involves heating the beans between two hundred fifty and three hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes to two hours. Anecdotal reports of individuals moving from coffee or yerba mate as their morning drink to a cup of hot chocolate report gentle stimulating effects without anxiety, as their other drinks had produced. Even very sensitive people who do not do well with any form of caffeine report positive results with raw chocolate; nothing at all like the effects produced by coffee or caffeinated teas.

The really big news about chocolate has been it’s antioxidant profile. Chocolate contains significant amounts of polyphenols — the same important antioxidants found in green tea, red wine and green apples — but in greater amounts. Dark chocolate contains an impressive 5% of these compounds, yet raw chocolate is made up of an incredible 10% concentration of these possibly life-extending molecules. Both roasting and processing with alkali (to make Dutch cocoa) reduce antioxidant concentration. Further, the increased absorbability of powdered raw cacao (perhaps the most versatile form of raw chocolate) over cacao nibs give them an edge in ORAC value, a measure of Oxidative Radical Absorbance Capacity.

Finally, the question of mood-enhancing neurochemicals and precursors. Chocolate contains significant quantities of the essential amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan intake has recently been collated with neurogenesis, the development of new brain cells, and both long and short term memory. The presence of tryptophan is critical for the production of serotonin, a primary neurotransmitter associated with mood (Prozac works on the principal of enhancing the action of serotonin). Once in the body tryptophan reacts with vitamins B6 and B3 in the presence of magnesium (all present in raw chocolate) to produce serotonin. Enhanced serotonin function assists in diminishing anxiety and stress – ccording to Dr. Gabriel Cousens, serotonin is literally our “stress-defense shield.” Tryptophan is heat sensitive and is often deficient in many cooked-food diets, even when animal protein intake is high. In addition to tryptophan (but not heat sensitive) chocolate also contains PEA, the ‘love hormone’ and Anandamide the ‘bliss chemical’.

Need more be said? Ready for some recipes? The simplest means of eating raw chocolate is snacking on cacao nibs. These are small pieces of cacao beans that mix well with natural granolas or dried fruit. To really get the most benefits, and for the most delicious raw chocolate creations, find yourself a source of raw organic cacao powder. The powder can be added to any drink, or easily made into bars, drops or other shaped candies. The hands-down most common preparation of cacao powder is the hot chocolate drink: Put one heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder, one teaspoon raw agave nectar, and one teaspoon high quality coconut oil in a blender (note that coconut oil quality varies greatly – a good coconut oil should taste pleasant by itself and have no chemical or rancid flavor which would otherwise be noticed in your chocolate drink). Add eight to twelve ounces of hot (but not boiling water) and blend at low speed for about ten seconds. That’s it; Chocolate magic that’s easily adjusted to your tastes — experimenting in whatever way comes to mind is highly encouraged.

There are lots and lots of recipes out there, and great reading on raw chocolate’s health benefits and preparation. You’ll cacao powder often combined with other super nutritious foods in smoothies and good-for-you deserts. Natural organic candies start with the same ingredients as the drinks, but without the liquid. Just make a paste, adding pecans, coconut shavings or whatever you like, and chill to harden. As you’re not baking anything, there’s little to go awry, and really, so many possibilities. By using raw chocolate, you’ll open up a whole new world of cooking for yourself and your family — and if you hadn’t before, you might just find yourself really motivated to treat yourself to natural health and wellness.

Natural immunity is supported by the proper use of aromatic botanicals.