Saturday, July 30, 2011

Rice, healthy food par excellence

It is the staple food in Asia and they hold the record for longevity ... So it is time that Europeans enjoy the benefits of slow carbohydrate and integrates well with their meals more often!Rice
Rice is, after wheat, the staple food of most important to man. It grows in tropical regions, usually under water in rice fields, but sometimes on dry land. Usually gives two rice crops a year.
This food is surrounded by legends and symbolicThe old beliefs demonstrate the mystical powers of rice and result in many rituals. Thus, to purify the land before building a house we proceed to the scattering of rice grains to drive evil spirits.
The important role that rice plays in the dishes served at weddings and funerals is because the rice would make possible the renaissance.
It was once thought that rice balls cooked - transported from ancient times as a snack and still popular today with hikers and travelers - offers powerful spiritual forces and symbolized the form of the soul, so rice balls are often placed on altars in shrines and personal as offerings to the gods ...Rice
The structure of rice is similar to that of wheat. When the husks in the door and the vanant handmade, there is much of thiamine and other B vitamins in the grain, but much of vitamins can be lost when the rice is washed.
Repeated polishing mills Trade also removes much of the vitamins. Therefore it is better to eat brown rice.Moreover, if the grain of rice is soaked and boiled before being ground, a significant amount of vitamins is transferred to the inner starchy and grain.Rice contains less protein than other cereals but they are better quality.
Rice helps to fight dehydration story: The white rice starch has the property to reduce water loss from the body. Water white rice is often used in Asian countries to rehydrate. If you have bowel fragile, white rice is perfect.
White rice is a grain very soft in the gut, because after digestion, this cereal does not leave much residue.For those who do not have bowel problems, it preferable to replace white rice with brown rice. And why not try basmati rice?Rice
There is evidence that eating more whole grains may help lower cholesterol, blood pressure and blood clotting. Increased consumption may improve control of blood sugar and reduce the risk of diabetes, which also reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
A high intake of whole grains helps in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight (other cardiovascular benefit) by helping you feel full longer. So bashing brown rice and wild rice - technically, this is not really rice but the seed of an aquatic plant. Delicious alone or mixed with brown or white rice.
Be aware that scientific discoveries have shown that the rice was a source of food almost perfect, with an ideal balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates. The germ and bran, though often removed during polishing, are rich in vitamins (especially B1), minerals, fiber and enzymes.
Such discoveries helped to renew interest in the rice as a key to a healthy diet.Rice
Small simple recipe for enjoying a good bowl of rice:

Rice thousand flavors (2 persons):










 


Ingredients:

  1. 
a can of crab meat
  2. 
an onion
 
3.  a bell pepper (red or yellow) mint
  4. 
a cup of rice
  
 
   Procedure:

  1. 
Cook rice in water
  2. 
In a skillet cook onion and bell pepper in very little oil
  3. 
Add rice, crab and chopped mint leaves

Mustard

Mustard, also known as mustard seed, is an herbaceous plant whose seeds are used to make the famous condiment of the same name. But the leaves and stem of the plant are eaten as salad. Mustard belongs to the family Brassicaceae as well as cabbage, turnips, rape, horseradish and watercress.
This hardy plant grows wild in fields and roadsides, up to 80 cm high and covering the leaves were yellow or white. Alongside this wild mustard, there are in Europe many other species of mustard grown as white mustard, brown mustard or mustard and black mustard China.
It is an ancient spice that the Chinese have known for over 3000 years and which also marked the Egyptian cultures, Greek and Roman. Indeed, the parable of the mustard seed in the Bible testifies to the importance of this tiny seed can become the largest of garden plants.
Then the Romans brought mustard to Gaul, where she won a great success. Throughout the Middle Ages, Europe had a high intake of this preparation obtained from mustard seeds crushed and mixed with grape must. Indeed, this "ardent mustum" or mash the fiery flavor, a term which could be the origin of the word "mustard", accompanied the venison and sausages of the day.
For others, the word "mustard" comes from the motto posted by Duke Philip the Bold before it enters the city of Dijon in 1382 'Moult Tarde Me, "which means" a lot waiting for me "and that became the coat of arms of the city after omission of the word "Me." This gave "Moult Tarde" and "Mustard." Thus, in the twelfth century, the city of Dijon became a reference for its expertise in this area and its various preparations: black mustard, gray or white to taste strong or prepared mustard with red grape black (at the base The mustard seed is not a strong spice, it is the transformation that gives it its pungent taste).
In the sixteenth century, Pope John XXII - who was particularly fond of this condiment - created the office of "First the Pope mustard." Today, if you can still eat the mustard greens in salads when young, it is primarily for its seeds as this plant is appreciated. There are also a variety of mustard's to suit different recipes. Indeed, according to the ingredients added to the crushed seeds (cinnamon, honey, sugar, vinegar, herbs, wine, milk, etc ...), mustard is more or less.
Essential ingredient of mayonnaise or vinaigrette dressings and mayonnaise, mustard, water and the famous rabbit in mustard sauce before baking or roasting other meats. This condiment gives a special flavor to the meat, while preventing it from drying out during cooking. Mustard
But cooking can also enjoy a variety of ways mustard greens which can be found in grocery stores east. Less pungent than the old, young leaves are eaten as a salad or shredded cooked as spinach or sauteed with Chinese bean sprouts, snap peas, mushrooms and ginger to accompany rice . Finally, mustard seeds are used in the preparation of curries of Indian cuisine and can also be germinated.
This plant's most famous condiment in the world has also been used traditionally for its medicinal properties. From the sixth century BC, the mustard poultice was recognized as a poison against the bites of scorpions, folk medicine has produced many antidotes for mustard-based.
 
Much more recently, mustard poultices as our grandmothers we applied to combat the flu, neuralgia or reduce bruising reveal the antiseptic properties of this plant. Its leaves are indeed rich in vitamins C, A, B and E in copper and iron eaten raw, they are a powerful and cleansing spring tonic, and as used as a poultice or bath, mustard greens stimulate the body. As for mustard as a condiment eaten, its appetizing and antiseptic are widely accepted.
Finally, we must emphasize the important role of this plant ecologically. While mustard is a weed among the most common in grain fields, it is nevertheless useful, because its roots loosen compacted soils and culture interrupts the cycle of cereal diseases in general. Also, it is increasingly used not only as a green manure in organic farming, but also in conventional agriculture. Finally, the mustard flowers attract bees, which produce a delicious honey and pollinate the gardens around. 


Oats

Oats are an annual plant belonging to the grass family. There are many species, including oats and wild oats that grows wild in the fields of wheat or barley as a "weed." This cereal is easily identifiable, the grains are not placed on the ears, but on panicles.
It seems that oats has appeared later than the wheat in food, probably around 4500 years before Christ and that its use was originally primarily medical. Hippocrates and prescribed it in the fifth century BC. AD of oatmeal in case of complaints of the stomach and intestines as food and nutrition for children and sick. Subsequently, herbalists oats employed to treat fatigue states, depression and skin diseases.
Originally from Asia, Ethiopia and northern Europe, oats are now cultivated in all temperate regions of the world, mainly in Russia, Canada, the United States and the European Union (Finland , Sweden and Germany). Long oats was the food of choice for animals, especially horses, but today they are fed with corn or barley, which explains the decline in global production. However, since the 1970s, the trend reverses, as we rediscover the benefits of oat consumption on human health.
It is true that this cereal is valuable for several reasons. First, oats are high in soluble fiber, which normalizes blood levels of glucose and insulin and helps the treatment of cardiovascular disease. In addition, this high fiber provides a feeling of fullness quickly and normalizes intestinal transit, preventing colon cancer and may help to lose weight.
Other components of oats as its lipid compounds of unsaturated fatty acids play a beneficial role on the nervous system and trace elements - such as phosphorus, manganese, magnesium, iron, selenium, copper, zinc and vitamin B1 - have an antioxidant role in the body. That's why we should not hesitate to eat oats that can be bought in the form of bran, flour, whole or crushed grains and flakes such as the famous Quaker Oats. Oats
Oat consumption is widespread in the UK, where "Porridge" made from rolled oats cooked in water or milk is the traditional breakfast, and where we develop a type of beer "oatmeal stout." One can also eat this cereal by replacing wheat flour with flour or oatmeal in many bread recipes, pie crusts, pizza or cake or thicken a vegetable soup by increasing its protein value.
Finally, oats has many industrial uses: in the food industry first, which is extracted a gum which is used as thickener and stabilizer in cheese spreads, but also in pharmacies, either for the manufacture of drugs that exploit the digestive oat bran or with drugstore cosmetics or skin care such as soaps surgras oat milk.
Indeed, external use, preparations oatmeal treat dry skin, skin inflammations, acne and itching and a bath in which a mixture infusion made from straw or rolled oats gives a real relaxation to the body. Oats are still used for the manufacture of adhesives and abrasives. 



Wheat

Wheat is an annual herb grown in temperate regions. It consists of a rod called "thatch" and an ear that carries the grain. This cereal has become essential nutrient in Western civilization and the Middle East.
Indeed, culture is less difficult than that of rice, as it requires no special management of land and requires less labor. Therefore the first crops of wheat emerged in the region of the Fertile Crescent (valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates) in the eighth millennium BC, spread rapidly.
Moreover, throughout history, this culture has stimulated inventions of tools more complicated. First, the hoe, the plow, the plow and the sickle which cuts the ripe corn by hand, then come to collect from the machines by men and by animals (horses, cattle), steam engines and finally by the gear motor. Since the mid-nineteenth century, wheat crops are using combine harvesters that cut and beat the corn in one operation while other machines plow and sow. From sowing to harvest, which takes place in summer, runs about ten months.
If there are several varieties of wheat including spelled or einkorn (especially admired for their rustic side), only durum and bread wheat or "wheat" are of economic importance today. The first is used to make pasta and semolina while the latter is cultivated for the bread flour.
The bulk of the wheat crop is destined for human consumption, while feed and food (starch and glutennerie) offer further opportunities for this cereal. But the part of the stem is cut at harvest is also used, the straw used as bedding for animals and form the basis of manure as part of the stem height remained low to the ground (called "thatch") is to make roofs typical.
This cereal is most important both taste the point of view of health. In fact, the wheat grain contains up to 70% starch and its envelope, the sound is rich in nutrients and fiber, while the seed is its most nutrient-rich. Therefore efforts should be made to consume the least refined wheat possible, products containing whole wheat or wheat bran with an antioxidant activity greater than that of refined products. Wheat
On the other hand, its high fiber, wheat balance bowel function, fights colon cancer while providing a feeling of fullness. Especially in the bran and germ of wheat, but also in the flour, bread and pasta, there are still valuable nutrients such as phosphorus, magnesium, iron, zinc, selenium, vitamins B vitamins E and K.
It was understood, the bread is better than white bread, pasta as well as complete. It is also easy to make a delicious homemade bread with organic flour 500g semi-complete type 80, to which we add 3 teaspoons of dried yeast and 300ml of water. After 25 minutes the ingredients mixed by hand or in an electric mixer, on sale all with 2 tablespoons of salt and the mixture allowed to stand 3 hours at room temperature. After this time, preheat oven to 250 ° C - 260 ° C and put the dough in a loaf pan to let rise again for 30 min. Then we bake for about twenty minutes after having notched bread with a knife. When the crust is golden and a good smell escapes from the oven, the bread is baked.
But the uses of corn are not limited to bread: you can also eat whole grains or crushed, flaked or pasta to the most diverse forms, in fine semolina or couscous and then in the form of flour for make pancakes and cakes.
Despite its benefits, wheat may be suitable for people intolerant to gluten. For in the wheat grain is the protein substance that gives preparations of wheat this viscoelasticity and the ability to "lift" but which can damage the lining of the small intestine of people allergic to wheat. 
 

Rye

Rye is a hardy grain, which developed several centuries before the Christian era as a "weed" in fields of wheat or barley. Where wheat was unsuccessful due to dry soil, dry or cold temperatures, rye has developed its long spikes fitted with a long beard.
 
Appeared initially in Central Asia, and rye was widespread in northern Europe, including Scandinavia and Germany. Under pressure from the population explosion that took place in the Middle Ages, the cultivation of this cereal then won marginal lands, such as mountainous areas (up to 2000 m). For example, in Switzerland (particularly in the Valais), it manufactures for generations of sourdough rye bread that cowbirds starting to outweigh the pasture in spring for summer use with their alpine cheeses.
Similarly, in France, south west of the Massif Central, the cultivation of rye was developed on the land to poor soil and cold acid called from "Segalas." And if, in Roman times, the rye bread and "black bread" was depreciated against the wheat bread, Germans, accustomed to their sourdough rye bread, then made fun of the French fragile stomachs consuming white bread made from wheat.
In connection with a widespread consumption of rye, it is interesting to note that between the seventh and nineteenth century, periods of witchcraft have generally coincided with epidemics of ergot-ism. Indeed, the grains of rye can be infected by a fungus, "the catch", which causes necrosis of the extremities, as well as hallucinations or other aberrant behavior. Formerly known as "fire of St. Anthony" or "burning sickness" of these illnesses to ergot have sometimes been accused of witchcraft who were affected ...
Since World War II, consumption of rye fell sharply in the world. In recent years, with a surge of environmental awareness, however, this cereal is to the fore. It is mainly in the form of bread that is consumed. In Germany, the "Pumpernickel" black bread whole rye is traditional as well as "knackebrod" in Sweden, crispbread products with grains of crushed rye. From grain, Americans still make the Whiskey and Vodka from Russia. Rye
One can even get an ersatz coffee roasting grains of rye. In addition, these grains can be eaten whole like rice or flaked to enter the composition of a granola. That said, cooking the grains of rye request two hours of time and, because of the taste of this cereal, it is better to eat mixed with wheat or other grain.
This cereal is still used to feed animals, especially cattle and hogs, provided that the grain is cleaned and contains less than 1% ergot. Finally, rye straw, which is very good, is widely used for making thatched roofs, make chairs straw, stuffing or even make mats.
From the nutritional point of view, like rye to wheat. It indeed has a high nutritional value and a wealth of valuable minerals, especially manganese, selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron and copper. It also contains valuable vitamins from group B, vitamin E and folic acid. In addition, its high fiber content makes it an interesting food to lower cholesterol, combat and prevent constipation and colon cancer.
Finally, rye is an herb sought in organic farming because it secretes toxic substances prevent weed growth especially in horticulture. It is thus seen as a cleaning plant. 


Healthy Virgin Strawberry Calada Recipe


Ingredients:
6 Ripe Strawberry
5 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice
1 oz coconut emulsion
1 Cup Ice Crushed

Preparation:
1. Combine the strawberries, pineapple juice,crushed ice and coconut cream in a blender.
2. Combine well at high tempo.
3. Pour into a Collins glass, decorate by a cherry and pineapple.







Ingredients:
Different kinds of fresh fruits like grapes,strawberries,orange,
pineapple,ice cream, etc.
Vanilla or strawberry ice-cream.

Preparation:
1. Cut chunks of your favorite fruits.
2. Put one scoop of vanilla or strawberry ice-cream in a large serving bowl.
3. Arrange the fruit chunks around that scoop of ice-cream.