Free Rice Is Nice. . . .

Want to help feed the hungry while improving your vocabulary skills? Answer multiple-choice vocabulary questions on FreeRice.com and they will donate 20 grains of rice to those in need for every question you get right. The rice is paid for by advertisers and is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program.

As of yesterday, 16,618,642,590 grains of rice had been donated.

Depending on how well you answer the questions, you will move up or down levels. The highest level is 55. According to the site, it is rare for people to get higher than 48 without cheating.

What a great a great idea - a chance to improve you vocabulary while doing something nice for the world!

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Eat This!

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Healthy Healthy Quick Recipe: Sloppy Joes. . . .

This healthy food healthy recipe is from the Minnedsota Soybeen Research Council which studies and reports the many health benefits of this excellent source of fiber and protein. Research indicates that people in Japan who eat soyfoods daily are less likely to get cancer than people in Japan who seldom eat soyfoods. Soyfoods may also help to prevent type 2 diabetes or complications the disease, reduce menopausal symptoms, and decrease the risk of osteoporosis. So, enjoy these delicious Sloppy Joes…there soy good for you!

Make 6 servings

1 cup boiling water
1 Tbs bottled chili sauce
1 cup dry TSP (Textured Soy Protein)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/4 cup bottled chili sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cider vinegar

Combine the boiling water and 1 Tbs chili sauce and pour them over the TSP to rehydrate it. Set aside.

Saute the onion, zucchini and bell pepper in a nonstick pan until tender (add a little water if necessary to prevent sticking). Add the rehydrated TSP and cook, stirring for another minute.

Stir the tomato sauce, 1/4 cup chili sauce, chili powder, Worcestershire sauce and vinegar into TSP mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve on hamburger buns.

Alternate Spicy Version: Sloppy Joses

Prepare Sloppy Joes, but substitute tomato sauce or ketchup for the chili sauce and omit Worcestershire sauce and vinegar. Increase the chili powder to 2 tsp. Add 1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies or 1/2 cup salsa, if desired. This makes a great taco filling, too!

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from A Weight Lifted

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Easy Antioxidants With Berry Smoothies. . . .

As you probably know, berries are packed with cancer-fighting, cholesterol-reducing, anti-aging benefits (to name a few). It’s so convenient when you buy them frozen because they keep so much longer and usually cost less.

Veggie Chic caught my attention with a frozen berry smoothie easy healthy recipe that would make a great breakfast. It sounds scrumptious to me, and I love the idea of adding cinnamon and vanilla.

“Frozen Berry Goodness” (Veggie Chic)
- Mixed frozen berries
- 1 Banana
- Soy milk
- Dash of cinnamon
- Splash of vanilla extract

Want variety? You can always substitute the milk for plain yogurt or add whatever fruits are in season.

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Laurel on Health Food

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It’s Time For Juice Fasting - Keys To Good Nutrition & Tips To Eating Healthy Feast Uri Yuri. . . .

IT’S TIME TO START JUICE FASTING

“The single most powerful tool I have seen for optimum health and rejuvenation is the JUICE FAST!” - Dr. Otto Burchinger, M.D.

After completing my 12-Part series on Juice Fasting a few weeks ago, I was very motivated and ready to go on an extended juice fast myself. Normally I fast once a week on Mondays to give my system a rest. However, several times a year I like to go on an extended juice fast. Periodic juice fasting is one of the essential keys to good nutrition and to eating healthy.

I’d like to share the details of my current juice fast with you to show you what’s it’s like and what you need to remember to do in order to be successful in your juice fasting.

My last meal was a healthy dinner on Saturday, January 26th.

Day 1 - Sunday, Jan. 27 - 175 pounds. Drank juices & water. Morning & evening enemas.
Day 2 - Monday, Jan. 28 - 173 pounds. Drank juices & water, with morning & evening enemas.
Day 3 - Tues, Jan 29 - 170 pounds. Drank juices & water, with morning & evening enemas.
Day 4 - Wed, Jan 30 - 168 pounds. Drank juices & water. Morning & evening enemas.

Here are the things that I have been doing every day that you’ll want to do when you juice fast:

1. Drink only fresh homemade juices, water, homemade vegetable broth, and any combination of the live whole food based InstaFresh super juice powdered drink mixes by Uri such as The Feast, Beyond Berries, Barley Pure, Sweet Careet, etc.

I have actually been drinking a smoothie every morning made from the following ingredients: 2 scoops of The Feast & 1 scoop of Barley Pure by Uri, half a raw lemon, cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoons of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar, Himalayan salt water, 2 tablespoons freshly ground flaxseed, 1 scoop of Multi Clean Colon Support by Uri, 1 scoop of psyllium husk seeds, 1 tablespoon of raw honey. In the afternoon and in the evening, I’ve been drinking a serving of the live whole food based InstaFresh super juice powdered drink, the Feast, by Uri.

2. Add some kind of colon cleaning support to your drinks once a day. In my case, I used “Multi Clean Colon Support” by Uri International.

3. Do a morning and evening enema with lukewarm water. You can find directions on how to do this on my blog. This is a critical step to make sure you do because it helps to get the old feces and toxic material out of your colon while you’re on your fast. You’ll need a simple $15 enema kit to do this yourself.

4. Do a morning and evening dry brush massage. This is simply a rough brush that you brush all over your body to rub off dead skin and to help remove the toxins that are being expelled through your skin. A dry brush massage is quite an invigorating experience and very healthy for you.

5. Do some kind of moderate daily exercise such as walking for 30-60 minutes. I strongly encourage you to go for a long walk in the morning and again in the late afternoon or early evening.

6. Stay away from the kitchen unless you’re preparing your smoothie or juice or vegetable broth. You don’t want to hang around food or people eating food which may prove to be a temptation.

7. Get plenty of rest every night and try to go to bed early.

8. Keep doing your normal work routine, and you’ll be surprised that you’ll have a lot of energy as your fast progresses.

SO FAR…this has been a very easy fast for me to do. I haven’t had any problems so far. I’ve felt plenty of energy and take walks whenever I can. I have had good sleep as well. My body feels like it is getting thinner, healthier, and more energetic. I’m working full 8-10 hour days with no problems whatsoever. My thinking is clearer than ever, and my spirit is spiritually in tune with God and hearing His voice. I’m not sure how long I will continue this juice fast, but for now, I feel like I could go on indefinitely…

Thank you so much for visiting my health and nutrition blog. Please check back often for my most recent postings on good nutrition and on eating healthy, and consider adding my RSS FEED so that you can be kept up to date on all of these health and nutrition articles. As a defender of your health, I am dedicated to providing you with the Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy. I’m also devoted to encouraging you to eat 5-9 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every day, and the best way to do that is by drinking the Feast, by Uri International, which is a live whole food based InstaFresh super juice powder drink by Yuri.

For more information, click here:
Get your fresh fruits and vegetables in a convenient, delicious, lifestyle-friendly powdered drink in 30 seconds - http://www.UriLife.net/jfriberg

To your health, longevity, and prosperity,

Josiah Friberg, Health and Nutrition Educator

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy Feast Uri Yuri

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Staying On Track With Healthy Eating. . . .

Our FitBriefing alert for the month of January alluded to lagging New Year’s resolutions. It’s pretty predictable. We start out strong the first of the year with our get healthy and lose weight resolutions, but as the month goes on, well, life does get in the way.

One thing that goes first for many food and weight strugglers are healthy eating resolutions. And many of us agree that diets often seem easier to follow than eating mindfully, because all the decisions are taken away. Diets tell us what to eat — and what not to eat — so we don’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about it.

We can marry the eating structure of diets with the concept of mindful eating. It’s all in how we think about it. In truth, eating structure goes a long way towards helping us stay on track with healthy eating and start to feel well and lose weight if we need to. Read our FitBriefing “Healthy Eating for Healthy Weight Loss: It May Look Like a Diet but It’s How You Think About It” to understand this idea more, and start to put it in place in your life. This concept can make the difference between staying with our New Year’s resolutions to eat well and reverting to old eating habits that don’t get us where we want to go.

Btw, if you want notice each time we post a new FitBriefing, sign up here (if you don’t want our brochure, just say so in the box for comments).

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Originally Syndicated via RSS from A Weight Lifted

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A Pie For All Occasions!. . . .

No matter how good the filling, the crust is the showcase: a good homemade crust takes a pie to new heights.

There are four basic ingredients in a pie crust: flour, fat, water and salt. You can come up with all kinds of tasty variations just by changing your basic ingredients, as long as you stick to the ratio of three parts flour, two parts fat, and one part liquid.

Flour: For a tender crust, choose a low-protein flour. Pastry flour, with a protein content of about 8-10%, ranks between all-purpose flour and cake flour. All-purpose flour works just fine for pie crusts, while cake flour may lack enough protein to form a workable, elastic dough.

Depending upon your tastes and the easy healthy recipe, you may substitute nut flours (almond flour or hazelnut flour) or whole wheat pastry flour for part of the mixture.
If you’re a novice crust-maker, start with a plain all-purpose or pastry flour dough.

Perfect Pie Crusts

Fat: Flaky crusts can be made from a variety of fats: butter, lard, shortening, duck fat, vegetable oil, or nut oils.

Crusts made with all butter are very flavorful, though they are generally not quite as flaky as crusts made with shortening or lard.
Vegetable shortening pie doughs are easier to work with and hold their shape better than all-butter crusts, but the flavor won’t be as rich.

Lard produces the flakiest crust, but processed lard can have a chemical aftertaste. Some butchers or farmers’ market stands may sell fresh rendered lard.

Some of the best pie crusts are made with a combination of fats: half butter, for flavor, and half shortening or lard, for flakiness.
Fans of crispier crusts use melted butter or oil for the fat, resulting in a mealier dough that bakes up as a fine-textured, crisp crust.

Liquid: Ice water, fruit juices, egg yolks, sour cream, milk or cream add different flavors and textures to your pie crust.

When adding liquid to the flour and fat mixture, it should be ice-cold in order to keep the pieces of fat cool and separate.
Always add liquid a tablespoon at a time, tossing with the flour mixture.

Humidity can affect dough performance, so you may need less liquid than the eating healthy recipe calls for.

If your dough becomes too wet, you’ll need to add more flour to roll out the crust, throwing off your ratio and resulting in a tough crust.

A little bit of acid–vinegar or lemon juice–helps tenderize the dough and prevents it from oxidizing.

Salt: don’t forget to add a pinch of salt to enhance the flavor of your crust.

For a sweeter crust, add a tablespoon or two of confectioners’ sugar. Granulated sugar can make the dough sticky and harder to work with.

Other additions: Wheat germ, a pinch of spice, a dash of flavorful liqueur or cold brewed coffee are all good additions to pie crusts.

Basic Flaky Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water

DIRECTIONS
Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour. Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.

Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling
and bake.

Baker’s Secret Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup cake flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons shortening
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar
3 cubes ice
1/2 cup cold water

DIRECTIONS
Measure butter & shortening onto a plate, put into freezer for about 20 minutes.

Measure cake flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to mix.

Take 1/2 of the cold butter and 1/2 of the cold shortening, put into processor with dry ingredients and pulse off and on for about 1 minute. Scrape down twice while doing this.

Take remainder of the cold butter & cold shortening and cut in very briefly with the processor, leaving visible pea-sized chunks. Do not over process at this stage!

In a measuring cup, mix egg yolk and vinegar together, add ice cubes and water. Let this get chilled, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Remove mixed flours and shortening from processor, put into a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle approximately 4 to 5 tablespoons of this egg, water, vinegar mixture, a little at a time, mixing gently with a fork. The key to this is, you do not want a wet dough, and you do not want to over mix.

Place this dough into plastic wrap or plastic bag, chill in refrigerator for a few minutes. (May also be frozen for a few weeks at this stage for future use).

Remove from refrigerator and roll out. This makes absolutely the BEST pie crusts.

Banana Co