Eating Healthy On A Budget
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
of the prices, you'll find these tips to be just
what you need to eat healthy on a budget.
1. Eliminate junk food
Doing your shopping on your own is the easiest way
to shop, as children and sometimes spouses are
usually the ones requesting junk food. Shopping
alone will prevent this, and ensure that you only
buy the foods you need.
2. Water or milk instead of soft drinks
You can still enjoy your favorite drinks at a
sporting event or night out, although you should
stick with the smallest size when shopping to save
money and calories. Children and even adults need
milk or milk products on a daily basis. Milk will
also help you get strong and provides calcium for
healthy bones and healthy teeth.
3. Buy fruits in quantity
Whne they are in season, buy fruits in quantity
and freeze any extras. You can buy several pounds
this way, and freeze extras to have them when the
fruit goes out of season. Wash the fruit well,
remove any spoiled pieces, dry thoroughly, then
freeze in plastic zipper bags.
4. Meats and beans
Meats and beans are the best sources for protein.
Lean meat is more expensive than meats with a lot
of fat. Canned beans are a great deal as well,
as they give you protein at a great price.
5. Beans as a substitute
You should use beans a substitute for meat on a
frequent occasion. There are several varieties,
so you can prepare them in a crock pot, so when
you return home they are ready to consume.
The USDA recommends eating beans at least 4 times
per week. If you experience gas after eating
beans you should try washing them, covering them
with water, bringing the water to a boil, then
draining it off and refilling the pot.
6. If you live in a coastal area or an area
where fish are around, make that an integral
part of your diet. You can catch them from the
lakes or rivers, saving money in the process.
7. Peanut butter is great for those on a budget
as it's popular with almost everyone. You can
use it for sandwiches instead of eating hot
dogs. It does need to be refrigerated, although
bigger jars can last you for weeks.
8. You should fill up with foods that have a high
content of water. Watermelon, salads, and even
sugar free gelatin are all great examples.
Eating healthy is always something you can't go
wrong with. You can eat healthy for just a few
bucks, which makes it perfect for those on a
budget. Now, you don't need a lot of money to have
the lifestyle and health you've always wanted.
Fast Facts On Potatoes
vegetable, even being ahead of other well known
vegetables such as lettuce and onions. You can
cook potatoes in a variety of ways, and they are
included in one out of three meals eaten by almost
all Americans. When they are prepared in a healthy
way, a potato can be an excellent source of energy
and also pack a nutritional punch.
Like oranges, potatoes are very high in vitamin C.
The fact is, one medium potato contains 45% of the
vitamin C that's recommended for good health.
Potatoes are also high in fiber and carbohydrates
and contain more potassium than a banana.
A potato is naturally low in calories and contains
no fat, sodium, or cholesterol. The skins of the
potatoes provide a helpful dose of fiber, iron,
potassium, calcium, zinc, phosphorus, and several
B vitamins.
If you find yourself confused by what you've read to this point, don't despair. Everything should be crystal clear by the time you finish.
You can prepare potatoes by boiling them, steaming
them, or even roasting them. If at all possible,
you should avoid putting potatoes in the refrigerator
or freezing them, as cold will turn the potato
starch to sugar and cause them to turn dark when
they are cooked.
When you store potatoes, keep them in a cool, dark
place. Too much light will cause them to turn green.
You can store them in the basement if you have
one, as the basement is the best place to keep
potatoes.
From mashed potatoes to baked potatoes, a potato
is something we all know and love. They serve
many different tasty foods, and they provide our
bodies with plenty of healthful benefits. We all
eat potatoes, some of us even grow our own. Whether
you grow your on or buy them, the potato is
the one vegetable that makes everything just a
little bit better.
Facts About Nutrition Labels
will tell you all the information about that food. For
some however, this information isn't exactly that reader
friendly. Fear not, as it's actually easier than you
think.
Serving Size
This size is based on the amount people eat. Similar
food items will have similar serving sizes, thus making
it easier to compare 2 foods of the same category.
% Daily Value
This indicates how food will fit in a 2,000 calorie
diet. This will help you to understand if the food
has a lot, or just a little of the important nutrients.
How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.
The middle section
The nutrients you'll find listed in the middle section
are the ones that are most important to your health.
This information can help you to calculate your daily
limit of fat, fiber, sodium, and other nutrients.
Vitamins & minerals
The percent daily value found here is the exact same
as the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamins
and minerals.
Now that you know what the nutrition label actually
means, it'll be a lot easy to eat healthy. Eating
healthy is a great thing - especially when you use the
nutrition label to assist you with your food choices.
Eating For A Healthy Heart
experience at some point in time. It's impossible
to eat healthy our whole lives, even though we may
try hard to do it. Eating healthy for your heart
is something everyone should try to do, especially
when it comes to restoring health and reducing
heart attacks.
Your heart and food
We know these things for sure - a diet high in
saturated fats will help raise your cholesterol,
which is a risk factor for heart disease. People
that are obese are more prone to heart disease. A
diet high in sodium may elevate your blood pressure,
leading to inflammation and even heart disease.
To help prevent heart disease and improve your health,
put the tips below to good use.
Eat plenty of fish
Herring, sardines, and salmon are all excellent sources
of Omega 3 essential fatty acids. Other fish are great
to, although Omega 3 may help to get your cholesterol
down to a healthier level.
Choosing healthy fats and oils
Saturated fat will increase the risk of heart disease.
It's found in meat, butter, and even coconut oil. You
should avoid them until your cholesterol levels are
down and you are at a healthy weight. Even those
that love red meats can enjoy seafood and nuts for
their main sources of protein.
Monounsaturated fats such as olive oils will help
you to protect your heart. Olive oil is an ideal
choice for cooking, dressing, or even as a dipping
sauce.
Now that we've covered those aspects of healthy eating, let's turn to some of the other factors that need to be considered.
Plenty of fiber
Fiber can help you control your cholesterol. You
can find fiber in whole grain products to help
control sugar absorption as well, which will help
you keep your digestive system healthy.
Choosing carbohydrates
Eating for your heart involves staying away from
sugary foods such as candy, cookies, cakes, and
pastries. Eating a lot of sugar isn't good for
your heart disease at all. Healthy carbohydrates
involve whole grain breads, whole grain pasta, brown
rice, and a lot of vegetables. You should make
fruits and vegetables the main aspect of your diet.
Healthy cooking methods
Stir frying and sauteing with olive oil or canola
oil are both great methods, as you shouldn't dip
your food in batter and fry it anymore. If you
cook chicken, remove the skin and bake it in the
oven in foil.
Instead of frying your fish you should always bake
it. Steaming your vegetables can help maintain the
most nutrients. You should use cream sauces or lots
of butter anymore either. When you eat vegetables,
try squeezing lemon juice on them or using your
favorite seasonings.
As you make the proper changes to your diet, keep in
mind that it takes time for them to become habits.
Eating healthy is always great for your body and your
lifestyle, especially when it comes to your heart and
the prevention of heart disease.
Almond Chocolate Coconut Cookies I
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Almond Chocolate
Coconut Cookies I
"Light
cookie with the taste of an Almond Joy candy bar." Original recipe yield: 4 dozen.
INGREDIENTS:
4 egg whites
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate
chips
1 cup toasted and chopped
almonds
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIRECTIONS:
Beat egg whites until stiff.
Add sugar and vanilla gradually. Add coconut and flour; mix well.
Stir in chocolate chips and
almonds; drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175
degrees C) for 15 minutes. Remove and cool.
.
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Gravy Secrets
Friday, November 16, 2007
Gravy Secrets
Ingredients:
for each cup of gravy you need one tablespoon each of fat and
flour
Instructions:
Before hand make up some rich turkey broth, use the bones or the
organs. I like to use the bones but that means no big uncarved turkey on the
dinner table.
You can simmer turkey neck, heart, gizzard, and and some minced
onion, and celery and ½ t salt in enough water to cover until vegetables are
done.
Dice the turkey liver and use the hot broth to simmer the diced
turkey liver for about 15 minutes The turkey bones yield much more broth and
you can add more vegetables to the pan.
Don't forget to get the brownings from the pan as mom says
"that's the goodies" just after you've removed the cooked turkey and
roasting rack from the roasting pan. Strain poultry drippings through a sieve
into a 4-cup glass measuring cup.
I then use 3 tb of corn oil to stir around in the bottom of the
pan and get out the brown bits that have baked on. That gets added to my turkey
drippings and I still really "wash" the pan out with my turkey broth
if its made (or the water Im going to use in my broth if I haven't made it
yet).
To make Gravy you need three things; well seasoned fat, flour, and
good Rich broth.
For each cup of finished gravy you need one tablespoon of Fat and
one tablespoon of flour and 1 cup of broth.
The trick is to know How many cups of broth you have and to see if
you have that much fat.
If you are light on the broth end you can add some canned chicken
broth
If you are light on the fat side you can add a small amount of
corn oil,.or just save the rest of your broth for storing and reheating the
turkey.
There are a few more tricks to making good gravy. First be sure to
take the measured fat and stir into it the measured flour and then put it over
the burner. Make sure you have covered all the flour with fat and blended It well.
Then you cook the flour and fat mixture until it begins to smell
Just slightly salty. It will be bubbly and look like its just this side of
brown.
Next REMOVE THE PAN FROM THE BURNER and whisk in the entire
measured liquids.
Then return the pan to the burner and slowly bring this almost to
a boil.
Remember you already cooked the flour in the fat so all you need
to do now is stir this until it thickens up to what you like. You can let it
stay sort of thin or let it cook out until it is thicker than your Mashed
potatoes.
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Moist Glazed Ham
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
and score the fat in the traditional diamond pattern.
place it in a large roaster.
to the top of the ham just as thick and as high as you cant pack it.
it will be left in the pan to melt into the glaze
thirty to forty minutes until the brown sugar begins to melt.
the ham very gradually trying not to wash off the melting sugar.
mixture of half burgandy wine and half pineapple juice basteing every 30
minutes for 4 hours. Be sure to dip up the pan juices and spoon them back up
over the top too. The idea is to keep the meat super moist for the whole time
it is cooking.
the first 3 and a half hours and I always do if I have a lot going on and might
become distracted. This will be the best tasting ham you have every ate so be
willing to devote a little extra time to it.
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