Condiments and the Candida Diet

Can you imagine eating a hamburger, hot dog or mom’s meatloaf without ketchup? Okay even if ketchup is not your thing most of us enjoy our favorite foods with some sort of condiment. I have seen hot dogs piled high with mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, soy sauce and relish. A little ridiculous to me, but I am sure very tasty to many. It can be extremely hard not to use condiments but many of us who are trying to adhere to the candida diet are tasked with this very challenge.

The Candida diet is a diet used to treat candidiasis, an overgrowth of yeast (Candida) in the intestinal system. The diet suggests eliminating or reducing a variety of foods and ingredients that exacerbate this condition. Condiments are eliminated on this diet because they usually contain a variety of Candida diet prohibited ingredients. The biggest offender is vinegar but corn syrup, sugar, salt, citric acid, monosodium glutamate and artificial flavors are all very common ingredients in condiments. All of these ingredients help exacerbate candidasis by feeding the Candida. Sugar and additives are common food sources for Candida. This is why commercially available condiments are not allowed on the Candida diet. Although we will not be indulging in any hot dogs on the Candida diet because they are also prohibited there are meals that we can create such as yeast free meatloaf in which we may want to utilize a condiment. So are there any commercially available condiments that we can use on the Candida diet? To be honest, I have not found many but I have come up with the following ideas for condiments. Continue reading “Condiments and the Candida Diet”

Some Useful Chinese Proverbs and Expressions

Below are a few Chinese proverbs or expressions that I have found extremely useful. They are all written in pinyin as Chinese characters may not display properly here.

Chinese Pinyin: “mei chi putao shuo putao suan”

Literal translation – haven’t eaten grapes say grapes sour

Believe that grapes are sour even though you have never eaten a grape.

This is a fairly easy proverb to understand and use. It’s means you have an opinion or judgment about something you have never investigated or know very little about i.e. your opinion has no foundation and you have no right to be passing a judgment on a certain topic or thing. Just like someone who says grapes are sour even though they have never eaten one. Continue reading “Some Useful Chinese Proverbs and Expressions”

7 Reasons Why Indie Theatre Rocks

If you’re anything like me, you don’t like spending your hard-earned (or fairly stolen) money on the same old thing you can get everywhere. And I’m not sure about you, but I can’t afford $150 for 2 hours of theatre. Even if I could, I’d likely use that same money for a weekend binge of DVD rentals, takeout Chinese and cheap booze.

But I still need my live theatre fix. So indie theatre is my hustler of choice. Of course, it helps that it’s awesome. If you think about it, there are tons of reasons why indie theatre (also known as off-off Broadway, indie, experimental, Equity showcase, small theatre, black box theatre or whatever term someone can cook up that means “anything but Broadway”) is just about the coolest form of entertainment around. Continue reading “7 Reasons Why Indie Theatre Rocks”

The Breville Gourmet Wok Review

Is the Breville Gourmet Wok something you really need in your kitchen? Or is it just another hyped kitchen appliance you’ll end up storing somewhere in your garage and forget about it? You can read in this article about my experience with this popular electric wok and find out whether it’s worth buying it or not.

I really like cooking Chinese dishes so a year ago I decided to buy an appropriate wok. I owned a wok before but I wasn’t satisfied with the results I was getting. After, looking around I decided to go with the Breville EW30XL Electric Gourmet Wok, my choice being led by the excellent reviews I have read on the net.

When I received the wok I was pleasantly surprised by its sturdy looks (and it weights quite a bit too – 12 pounds) and the simple and clean design. Continue reading “The Breville Gourmet Wok Review”

Indian Food 101

Indian Food and Indian Restaurants are common in many parts of the world , but in my pocket of the world they seem to be few and far between. I realized that many Americans may not be accustomed to Indian Food; what to order at an Indian Restaurant or the proper way to eat Indian Food. Since I grew up eating Indian Food, it is natural for me to tear my naan up and soak up the yummy curry. That is why I wanted to put together a short article outlining some common Indian dishes and what you may want to order at an Indian Restaurant. I hope this will encourage you to give Indian Food a try.

More than likely, you will start out with complimentary poppadoms. These are like very thin crackers, but much larger. There are usually 3 sauces or chutneys that go along with poppadoms, a lime green sauce made with cilantro that is somewhat spicy, a dark brown sauce which is very sweet (save some for later, I will tell you why in a moment), and a mango chutney which is very good but pretty hot.

Appetizers: Continue reading “Indian Food 101”

How Diversity In The Workplace Is a Benefit for Organizations

The democratic principle that I selected is that all men are created equal. The equality of all men, and women, is important in a democratic environment in the workplace. This statement is to say that all people, no matter what race, religion, background, geographic region, are created equal as in the same. People are all born with a lot of similarities. The standard for most are humans are two eyes, a nose, a brain, hands, arms, legs, and a mouth. We all are taught from birth the thoughts and beliefs from those around us. We are influenced by the people who are surrounded around us, and what those people teach us are some of the influences that we may have within us.

Diversity in the workplace helps to brings about a numerous amount of great ideas, change, and values for people with differences in opinions and cultures. It is healthy to have diversity in the workplace. Without diversity, we would not have many of the foods that one eats today. Imagine the United States without hot dogs, hamburgers, Chinese food, and a host of other foods that were brought over to this country from other countries and cultures. A variety of cultures and diversity also brings about different ideas in the workplace. Continue reading “How Diversity In The Workplace Is a Benefit for Organizations”

Learning a Language: Make It Real and You’ll Never Forget It

Sniffing, then squinting and holding up a Kiwi fruit a Chinese student muttered something I wasn’t sure I wanted to have translated. A classmate from Brazil leaned over, pointing to a photo in a picture dictionary. Two Korean ladies giggled, their hands covering their mouths.

The lesson on food was bombing big time. When the ESL class ended, none of us were satisfied, but at least the topic had been broached. “Review your vocabulary materials before next class”, I encouraged. They were all new to the USA. Some had only been in their new country a few days, others a few weeks. A few for a couple of months or so, but none had yet crossed over into the realm of communicating on a daily basis in English. I had to do something to help my multi-cultural class of ESL students start to internalize the language. Thinking back on my own French language struggles in Paris and French Canada, the answer struck me. The next class I was ready. Continue reading “Learning a Language: Make It Real and You’ll Never Forget It”

Male Infertility and How to Increase Sperm Count With Chinese Medicine

Infertility In Men

Food & Lifestyle Tips Towards Better Health Introducing Chinese Medicine and Fertility Concepts

Chinese Medicine uses a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, viewing illness or disease as a disharmony in the body’s natural balance. To help you participate in your own healing or balancing process I have written this brochure to explain some of the basic terms Chinese Medicine practitioners use to describe health, the way the body functions and how they relate to increasing your chances to conceive a healthy child.

Vitamins & Supplements Vitamin supplements are useful where deficiencies occur. However, some vitamins and mineral supplements can cause toxicity in high doses, so it is wise to speak to a health care professional before going on a regime of vitamins. Continue reading “Male Infertility and How to Increase Sperm Count With Chinese Medicine”

Thinking About Going "Saltless" or "Sugarless"? Things You Should Consider

Cravings for Salt and for Sugar

If you, like me, are either diabetic, overweight, or both, I’ll bet your Doctor has told you, on more than one occasion, “Cut down on salt and stop using sugar.” While it’s easy to avoid adding sugar or sprinkling salt on our food, there are just too many places where salt and sugar hide. Processed meats, cheeses, prepared soups, Chinese take-outs, non-diet soda drinks, and even the lowly restaurant-prepared green leafy salads are all prime suspects.

Salt, is a conundrum Spice. Salt, chemically known as Sodium Chloride, is one of those minerals that are both beneficial and toxic to life. Also known by its chemical moniker, NaCl, salt in its various forms will be actively sought out by living creatures, instinctively. Everybody remembers putting out salt licks for wandering animals, especially in the winter months. Continue reading “Thinking About Going "Saltless" or "Sugarless"? Things You Should Consider”

Penis and Testicle Dining for Health and Virility in Beijing

There is a new restaurant in Beijing – a specialty penis restaurant. Their fare includes penises that once dangled proud and strong from yaks and oxen, seals and dogs, horses and donkeys. You name it, they have it!

I am mostly a vegetarian but I am planning a trip to Beijing soon and I am not taking my wife with me. She’s an absolute vegan. When she was last here in China she was shocked when our companion stopped mid-track and slapped the trunk of a tree, picked out a dead insect that looked like a cricket and promptly dispatched it’s edible portions into his mouth. He looked happy and said it was delicious but my wife! She was shocked. Later, he took us to a restaurant where stir-fried crickets were the specialty of the house. We couldn’t say no as our companion was hosting two Germans, as well, who were willing to try anything. The restaurant floor was stacked inches deep with left overs of crickets, their shells and the like. If that was bad for my wife Beijing would be murder. Continue reading “Penis and Testicle Dining for Health and Virility in Beijing”