Beer Lime Grilled Chicken

INGREDIENTS:

1lime, juiced
1(12 fluid ounce) can light colored beer
1 teaspoon honey
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
salt and pepper
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix the lime juice, beer, honey, garlic, cilantro, and salt and pepper until the honey dissolves. Pour the mixture over the chicken, cover and marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat and lightly oil grate.
3. Remove chicken from marinade and shake off excess; discard remaining marinade. Grill chicken until tender and juices run clear, about 7 minutes per side.

Broccoli Chicken

3/4 - 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
To Velvet Chicken:
1 large egg white
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

Sauce:
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon water

To Cook Broccoli:
1 pound broccoli
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar, or to taste

Other:
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
2 cups plus 4 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

Cut the chicken into 3/4 to 1-inch cubes. In a bowl, mix together the egg white, cornstarch and salt. Add the egg white mixture to the chicken cubes, tossing or using your fingers to coat the chicken in the mixture. Marinate the velveted chicken in a sealed container in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the sauce and vegetables: for the sauce, mix together the oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy, and water in a small bowl and set aside. In another small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water thickener and set aside. Wash and drain the broccoli. Cut the stalk diagonally into thin slices. Cut the flowerets into 3 or 4 pieces. Crush the garlic.

Preheat a wok. Heat 2 cups oil in the wok until it reaches 275 degrees Fahrenheit. (Test the heat by placing a piece of chicken in the wok - it should float). Add the chicken cubes, and let cook until they just turn white (about 30 seconds), using a wooden spoon or chopsticks to gently separate them. Quickly remove the chicken cubes from the wok as soon as they turn white, and drain in a colander or on paper towels.

Drain the oil out of the wok or preheat a second wok on medium high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the crushed garlic and stir fry for 10 seconds.

Add the broccoli, sprinkle the salt and sugar over, and stir fry briefly, turning down the heat if necessary to make sure it doesn't burn. Add the 1/2 cup water, and cook the broccoli, covered, for 4 - 5 minutes, until it turns a bright green and is tender but still crisp. Remove from the wok and drain.

Clean out the wok and heat 2 more tablespoons oil. Add the broccoli and the velveted chicken, stirring and tossing to cook the chicken through. Add the sauce and cornstarch mixture in the middle of the wok and stir quickly to thicken. Mix everything together and serve hot over steamed rice.

6 Solutions for Hair Loss

Diet-You are what you eat - and that’s true for your hair as well. A diet containing mostly whole foods, especially the skin of plants such as cucumbers, potatoes, peppers, and even bean sprouts are rich in the mineral silica and contribute to hair strength. Foods like lean meats are high in iron and are essential to the protein-based, building blocks of hair growth.



Ginkgo Biloba - this well-known herb is believed to improve blood circulation to the brain and skin. Herbalists believe that the increased flow of blood to the scalp area promotes hair regrowth by delivering nutrients to the hair follicles.



Green Tea - it has been shown that natural chemicals (catechins) present in green tea inhibit the Type I 5-alpha-reductase enzyme which converts testosterone into the hair-murdering DHT. And that, in some expert opinions, could block the chain of hormonal activity initiating hair loss.



Stinging Nettle - Grandma’s secret gets a new life as modern herbalists believe drinking tea made from this plant will reduce hair loss. Much in the way the chemicals in green tea prevent testosterone from turning into DHT, stinging nettle is also said to fight that process and keep hair thick and healthy.



Red Pepper - used throughout the ages, this common skin irritant works to attract blood and nutrients to the scalp and also promotes the release of histamines that stimulate cell division and hair growth.



Onion - A study published in the Journal of Dermatology examined the results when onion juice was used in people with alopecia areata. Twenty-three people applied onion juice directly to the scalp twice daily for two months. Participants began to experience hair growth after just two weeks of treatment. At four weeks, hair regrowth was seen in 17 people and at six weeks, hair growth was apparent in 20 people.

How to take care of Diabetes

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is the number 3 killer of people in America today, it causes blindness of all kinds, kidney failure, kidney transplant, cardiovascular disease, amputation of toe, feet and legs.

There are 16 million people in America with Adult Onset Type 2 Diabetes. The fastest growing age group with adult onset type 2 diabetes are kids under the age of 12. It used to be only found in people 45 to50 years of age and above. You could almost diagnose it by the age of onset. You can't do that any more, because more and more kids under the age of 12 are developing adult onset type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body is unable to produce or use insulin properly. When this occurs, glucose remains in the bloodstream rather than being absorbed by cells and used for energy. Glucose levels in the blood can then rise dangerously high (hyperglycemia) and, over time, cause damage to major organs and systems in the body such as the kidneys and eyes, and nerves and blood vessels.



Type 1 diabetes is referred to as an immune mediated or auto (self) immune disease. It is also called juvenile diabetes because it affects mainly children and adolescents. However, adults can also develop it. Individuals with Type 1 diabetes must take injections of insulin every day to stay alive.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the islet cells in the pancreas are damaged and no longer produce insulin. This happens when the immune system in the body, for reasons that are not clearly understood, attacks its own cells. It affects approximately 5-10 percent of people with diabetes. A rare form called Idiopathic Type 1 diabetes also exists and has no known cause.



Type 2 diabetes is referred to as adult onset diabetes. It occurs when the production of insulin is not sufficient to overcome a difficulty the body has in properly using insulin. This difficulty is called insulin resistance. It is a hereditary disorder.

Type 2 diabetes is treated with diet, exercise and, if necessary, medications. It accounts for 90-95 percent of all cases of diabetes and the incidence is rising rapidly, even in children.



Other Causes of Diabetes

Gestational diabetes

Gestational diabetes occurs in about 2-5 percent of women during pregnancy — or about 135,000 women annually — usually after the 20th week. The condition is caused from pregnancy hormones that lead to insulin resistance. In some women, whose insulin production is not sufficient to overcome the resistance, glucose levels rise.



The condition poses risks to the developing fetus as the mother’s blood, with its high levels of glucose and insulin, circulates throughout its system. Babies born to mothers with gestational diabetes can be overweight — over nine pounds — because the mother’s high blood glucose and insulin levels causes them to gain weight. The extra weight can put the baby at risk for obesity and for developing diabetes later in life. In addition, because the baby’s body has become accustomed to extra blood glucose and insulin, its blood sugar can drop too low after birth.

In the majority of cases, gestational diabetes disappears when the woman’s pregnancy ends. But as many as 40 percent of these women will eventually develop Type 2 diabetes. In some cases, the pregnancy unveils underlying diabetes that the woman was not aware of.



Diabetes caused from other factors

Diabetes may also occur from other factors such as injury to or disease of the pancreas, medications (such as steroids), surgery, infections and malnutrition. These cases account for 1-2 percent of all cases of diabetes.

The Diabetic Diet

Patients with Type 1 diabetes should have a diet that has approximately 35 calories per kg of body weight per day (or 16 calories per pound of body weight per day).

Patients with Type 2 diabetes generally are put on a 1500-1800 calorie diet per day to promote weight loss and then the maintenance of ideal body weight.



However, this may vary depending on the person's age, sex, activity level, current weight and body style. More obese individuals may need more calories initially until their weight is less. This is because it takes more calories to maintain a larger body and a 1600 calorie diet for them may promote weight loss that is too fast to be healthy. Men have more muscle mass in general and therefore may require more calories. Muscle burns more calories per hour than fat. (Thus also one reason to regularly exercise and build up muscle!) Also, people whose activity level is low will have less daily caloric needs.

Generally, carbohydrates should make up about 50 percent of the daily calories ( with the accepted range 40-60 percent). In general, lower carbohydrate intake is associated with lower sugar levels in the blood. However the benefits of this can be cancelled out by the problems associated with a higher fat diet taken in to compensate for the lower amount of carbohydrates.. This problem can be improved by substituting monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats for saturated fats.

Most people with diabetes find that it is quite helpful to sit down with a dietician or nutritionist for a consult about what is the best diet for them and how many daily calories they need. It is quite important for diabetics to understand the principles of carbohydrate counting and how to help control blood sugar levels through proper diet. Below are some general principles about the diabetic diet.



1. Why count carbohydrates?

Carbohydrate makes your blood glucose level go up. If you know how much carbohydrate you've eaten, you have a good idea what your blood glucose level is going to do. The more carbohydrates you eat, the higher your blood sugar will go up.

2. Which foods contain carbohydrate?

Most of the carbohydrate we eat comes from three food groups: starch, fruit and milk. Vegetables also contain some carbohydrates, but foods in the meat and fat groups contain very little carbohydrate. Sugars may be added or may be naturally present (such as in fruits). The nutrient term for sugars can also be identified by looking for -ose at the end of a word ( i.e. glucose, fructose, sucrose, etc. are all sugars). Look for these on food labels to help identify foods that contain sugar.



Below are some examples of carbohydrate grams for some common food items:

To make things easy, many people begin carbohydrate counting by rounding the carbohydrate value of milk up to 15. In other words, one serving of starch, fruit or milk all contain 15 grams carbohydrate or one carbohydrate serving. Three servings of vegetable also contain 15 grams. Each meal and snack will contain a specific total number of grams of carbohydrate.

For example: Each gram of carbohydrate provides 4 calories. A diabetic on a 1600 calorie diet should get 50% of these calories from carbohydrate. This would be a total of 800 calories or 200 gms of carbohydrate (at 4 calories per gram) spread out over the day. At 15 grams per exchange, this would be about 13 exchanges of carbohydrate per day.

The amount of food you eat is closely related to blood sugar control. If you eat more food than is recommended on your meal plan, your blood sugar goes up. Although foods containing carbohydrate (carb) have the most impact on blood sugars, the calories from all foods will affect blood sugar. The only way you can tell if you are eating the right amount is to measure your foods carefully. Also, it is important to space your carbohydrates out throughout the day to avoid sugar "loading." Measuring your blood sugar regularly also provides important feedback on how high your sugar went based on what you ate and your level of activity.



Where do you get carbohydrate information?

The "Nutrition Facts" label on most foods is the best way to get carbohydrate information, but not all foods have labels. Your local bookstore and library have books that list the carbohydrate in restaurant foods, fast foods, convenience foods and fresh foods. You will still need to weigh or measure the foods to know the amount of grams of carbohydrates present.

How do you count carbohydrate?

Carbohydrates can be counted in number of grams or can be counted as exchanges. One carbohydrate exchange equals 15 grams of carbohydrate. A good reference for learning how to count calories in this manner will be on line here soon including a calorie computer.

Free Foods:

These are foods that you can eat without counting. A free food or drink is one that contains less than 20 calories and 5 grams or less of carbohydrate per serving. If your serving or a food contains more than 5 grams of carbohydrate, you should count it in your meal plan.

Examples of free foods:

Bouillon or broth
Carbonated or mineral water
Club soda
Coffee or tea
Diet soft drinks
Drink mixes, sugar-free
Tonic water, sugar free
Sugar-free hard candy
Sugar-free Jell-O
Sugar-free gum
Jam or jelly, light or low-sugar, 2 tsp.
Sugar free syrup, 2 tsp.

You should spread out free foods throughout the day and not eat them in one sitting.



Fitting Sugar in Your Meal Plan

It is commonly thought that people with diabetes should avoid all forms of sugar. Most people with diabetes can eat foods containing sugar as long as the total amount of carbohydrate (carb) for that meal or snack is consistent. Many research studies have shown that meals which contain sugar do not make the blood sugar rise higher than meals of equal carbohydrate levels which do not contain sugar. However, if the sugar-containing meal contains more carb, the blood sugar levels will go up.

Does this mean I can eat cake and not worry about it?

No! A slice of white cake with chocolate icing ( 1/12 of a cake or 80 gram weight) will give you about 300 calories, 45 grams of carb and 12 grams of fat. That is three starch servings and over 2 fat servings. Before you have a slice of cake, ask yourself the following questions: Will that small piece of cake be satisfying or will I still be hungry? How it will fit into my meal plan? Do I have 300 calories to "spend" on this? Are there other choices I could make which would contribute less fat? A 1/12 slice of angel food cake has less than 1 gram of fat and only 30 carb. This may be a better choice.



Controlling all carbohydrates

It is important to realize that sugar is not the only carbohydrate that you have to "control". The body will convert all carbohydrates to glucose - so eating extra servings of rice, pasta, bread, fruit or other carbohydrate foods will make the blood sugar rise. Just because something doesn't have sugar in it doesn't mean you can eat as much as you want. Your meal plan is designed so that the carbohydrate content of your meals remains as consistent as possible from day to day.



A word of caution:

Although sugar does not cause the blood sugar to rise any higher than other carbohydrates, it should be eaten along with other healthy foods. If you choose to drink a 12 ounce can of a sugar-sweetened soft drink, that would use up about 45 grams carb - and you wouldn't have gotten any nutrition (protein, vitamins or minerals). What a waste of calories! High sugar foods are more concentrated in carb. Therefore the volume would be smaller than a low sugar food. High sugar foods might not be a good choice if they will just tempt you to eat more. If you would rather eat larger portions, select low sugar choices. Look at the differences in portion size you get for equal amounts of carbohydrate in these cereals!

In addition, many sugar-containing foods also contain a lot of fat. Foods such as cookies, pastries, ice cream and cakes should be avoided largely because of the fat content and because they don't contribute much nutritional value. If you do want a "sweet" - make a low-fat choice, such as low-fat frozen yogurt, gingersnaps, fig bars or graham crackers and substitute it for another carbohydrates on your meal plan.

vegetable rice pulav

Ingredients:

For rice

1 cup basmati or long grain rice
2 cups water
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
For vegetables

3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1 medium sized potato, chopped into 1/2″ cubes
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup cauliflower, cut into small pieces
1 cup frozen green peas
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 long sliced green peppers
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon lemon juice
For garnish:

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

Preparing the rice:

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Test the oil by adding one cumin seed; if seed cracks right away oil is ready.
Add cumin seeds after cumin seeds crack add bay leaves and stir for few seconds.
Next add the rice. Stir-fry for 2 minutes.
Add water and salt, bring to a boil and turn the heat to low. Cover the pan.
Cook about 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat and fluff the rice with a fork.

Preparing the vegetables:

Use a frying pan to cook the vegetables. Add the vegetables in steps, the vegetables that need the most time to cook are added first and the vegetables that need the least time will be added last.
Heat the oil in frying pan. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready.
Add cumin seeds after cumin seeds crack, add potatoes, stir-fry them for about 2 minutes.
Add cauliflower and carrots. Let them cook for about another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Next add green peas, bell pepper, ginger and green chilies. Let the vegetables cook for a few minutes till vegetables are tender. Turn off the heat.
Add garam masala and lemon juice.
Next gently fold the rice into the vegetables. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish the rice dish with cilantro.

Yellow fried rice

Ingredients:

1 cup basmati rice
1/2 cup green peas
2 cups water
3 tablespoons oil
Pinch of asafetida (hing)
1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
1 teaspoon mustard seed (rai)
4 whole red chilies (sabut lal mirch)
2 bay leaves (tajpat)
About 1inch piece of cinnamon stick (dal chini)
1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Method

Wash rice gently and soak it for at least 15 minutes prior to cooking.
After cooking rice expands to about three times in volume, so be sure to use the proper size pan.
Drain the rice and put into the saucepan. Add the water, green peas, 1 teaspoon of oil, and salt, bring to a boil and turn the heat to low, and cover the pan.
Cook about 15 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water has evaporated. Turn off the heat and fluff the rice with a fork.
Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if seed cracks right away oil is ready. Add asafetida, cumin seeds, and mustard seeds.
After the seeds crack, add red chilies, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick and stir-fry for few seconds.
Add rice, turmeric, and cayenne pepper to the spices in frying pan. Mix it gently.
Stir-fry for about 5 to 6 minutes.

Serve hot with soup, dal or yoghurt

cabbage koftas

Koftas are fried dumplings in a variety of spicy gravies. The dumplings can be made using a variety of vegetables and some popular ones are cabbage, laucki (bottle guard), zucchini, or a potato-paneer mix. This particular recipe uses cabbage.

Recipe serves will 4.

Ingredients:
For Koftas (dumpling):

2 cup shredded cabbage (patha gobhi)
3/4 cup gram flour or as needed
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
2 teaspoon chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
1 teaspoon shredded ginger
1 chopped green chili
1 teaspoon salt
Oil to fry

Gravy:

3 medium tomatoes
1/2 inch ginger (adrak)
1 green chili
2 tablespoon yogurt
2 tablespoon oil
Pinch asafetida (hing)
1 teaspoon cumin seed (jeera)
1 tablespoon gram flour (basen)
1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhania)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (haldi)
1/2 teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
1/2 paprika
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
2 tablespoon finally chopped cilantro (hara dhania)
1 teaspoon sugar

Method:
Koftas (dumpling):

Mix together all the kofta (dumpling) ingredients. Adjust gram flour (besen) as needed to make a texture of very soft dough. Note: make this mix just before you are ready to fry the kofta otherwise it will become watery.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat.

The frying pan should have at least 1½ inch of oil. To check if the oil is ready, just put one small piece of the mix in the oil, it should sizzle and come up right away.

Slowly drop about 1 tablespoon of the dumpling mixture into the frying pan one at a time.
Fry the koftas (dumpling mix) in small batches, avoid overcrowding the frying pan.
Turn the koftas occasionally. Fry the koftas until they turn golden-brown all around.

Gravy:

Blend the tomatoes, green chilies and ginger to make a puree. If you prefer a milder version, take the seeds out of the green chili before blending.
Heat the oil in a saucepan on medium-high. Test the heat by adding one cumin seed to the oil; if it cracks right away oil is ready.
Add the asafetida, cumin seeds and gram flour (basen). Stir-fry for a minutes.
Add the tomato puree, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, and cook on medium heat until the tomato mixture starts leaving the oil and reduces to about half in quantity.
Next add yogurt and cook for another minute.
Add about 1½ cups of water and the salt. As it comes to boil reduce the heat to medium-low and let the gravy cook for few minutes.
Note: adjust the thickness of the gravy to your taste by adjusting the water.
Add the prepared koftas and let it simmer for another 7 to 8 minutes.
Turn of the heat and add the cilantro and cover the pot.

Variations:
Using the same recipe you can make these koftas replacing cabbage with laucki (bottle guard) or zucchini.

Tips:
Koftas can be refrigerated for 5 days or freeze for a month.

Chocolate Moelleux

Ingredients:

Flour 36gms
butter 20gms
Chocolate 150gms
Eggs 4 Separated
Almond Powder 100gms


Method:

Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
Add egg yolk and blend well.
Add butter,almond powder and flour.
Whip egg white till forms stiff peaks.
Fold in the chocolate mixture with egg white.
Pour out in a mould and bake in a preheated oven at 200*C for 10 min.

Serves: 1.

Korean food KimChee

Kimchee

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced fresh Chile peppers of your choice
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup Napa cabbage (Tianjin bok choy), sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and very thinly sliced

Method:
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, chile peppers, and sugar and whisk together well. In a medium bowl, toss the cabbage, cucumber, red pepper, and carrot together. Add just enough of the dressing to moisten the vegetables and mix well; refrigerate.

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Kimchi

Ingredients:
1 lb sized head Chinese cabbage
2 tablespoons sea salt
4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 tablespoon green onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons dried chili pepper flakes
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon sea salt

Method:
Separate and wash the cabbage leaves. Sprinkle them with the 2 tbsp of salt. Place them in a non corrosive dish (Pyrex) and pour in the 4 cups cold water, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge over night. The water should cover the leaves if not place a heavy object on them to keep them submerged. After sitting overnight pour off the water and rinse the leaves well, shake out excess moisture. ( I used my lettuce dryer to remove the extra moisture). Mix the garlic, ginger, green onion, chili flakes, sugar & 1 Tbsp salt, stir together. Pour 11/2 cups of very hot water over the mixed seasoning. Place cabbage leaves in a large zip lock bag or in a bowl, pour in the seasoning, mix well so the seasoning is on every leaf. Place in the fridge for two days. Flip the bag every time you open the fridge door. To serve cut the leaves into 2" strips and serve as a side condiment. To store pack the cabbage into a jar and store in the fridge it will keep for several days to a week or more.

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Whole Cabbage Kimchi

Although the name suggests that the cabbage is left whole, it is not. It is halved lengthwise, or even quartered if the cabbage is large. The name distinguishes it from kimchi made with chopped cabbage but I have used this recipe with the cabbage chopped and it is very good.
Makes about 2 1/2 quarts

Ingredients:
1 cup sea salt
4 lb Napa cabbage, halved lengthwise if small, quartered if large
1/2 cup coarse Korean red chili powder (I use pure ground red chili or cruse pepper flakes)
1/4 cup Thai fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
8 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 - 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
1 bunch scallions, white and pale green part only, halved lengthwise, cut in 1" lengths

Method:
Add the salt to 2 gallons cold water and stir until the salt dissolves and the water becomes clear. Put the cabbage in a bowl and add the brine. It should cover the cabbage. If not, make additional brine with salt and water in the same proportions. Put a weight on the cabbage to keep it submerged. A large plate with a water filled bag on top works well. Let stand at room temperature for 12 hours. Drain the cabbage, rinse it well, and squeeze it dry. In a bowl, combine the chili powder, fish sauce, sugar, garlic and ginger. Stir until smooth. Stir in the scallions. Carefully spread the seasoning mixture between the cabbage leaves, dividing it as evenly as possible and seasoning all the layers. Pack the seasoned cabbage into a non reactive container, such as a large wide mouth glass jar or an earthenware crock. (The pepper powder will stain a plastic container.) Cover tightly and leave at cool room temperature, preferably 65 to 68 degrees F, until you see a few bubbles in the liquid, signs that fermentation is under way. This make take 2 days or more. Taste a little of the kimchi. If it is as fermented as you like, refrigerate it. If you would like it a little stronger, leave it at room temperature for another day or two, then refrigerate. The kimchi will last under refrigeration for at least 10 days.



Kimchi ramen



Kimchi Fried Rice with Spam