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Wild Edible Plants Of Utah and The West

I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about wild edible plants over the past couple years and while it was tough in the beginning finding the identification and finding resources for the plants I was seeing it has been a thrill to learn how much there is available in the wild. I have to stay I am often stunned at the number of wild edibles available even in the Utah desert where I live. Not only are there a lot of wild edibles but many of them are quite tasty. With spring just around the corner I am thinking about it again and looking forward to some foraging and looking forward to a better diet. I’ll bet you didn’t think that eating wild edible greens could actually improve your diet! Continue reading “Wild Edible Plants Of Utah and The West”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

The Top 5 Harmful Substances Found in Your Food

If you need to enhance the flavour of food using artificial chemicals rather than herbs and spices, there is something seriously wrong about that and it begs to wonder why you would want to put such things into their bodies.

Of course, there are more than five harmful substances that are found in foods but I wanted to concentrate on these five because they are the most common.

In no particular order, my top five are:

HYDROGENATED OR PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS

Out of all the substances, for me personally, this must be the worse. This is not to say that some (additives)) are better than others, but there really is no need for this in food, there really isn’t. Continue reading “The Top 5 Harmful Substances Found in Your Food”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Home-Cooked Pre-Made Meals

Whenever someone follows me to our pantry they inevitably utter amazement at our preserves and pre-made meals and say: “How do you find the time?” Actually I find this activity saves me a lot of time and a heck of a lot of money. Here I’ll share some tips to help make this activity a lot more efficient and do-able.

Don’t be intimidated by the size of some recipes – most are freezer friendly. And remember, it is just as much work to double or triple a recipe as it is to do just one batch. You have to wash the same dishes, clean the same kitchen and use the same heat. Having packages of meals ready to go is a great help to a busy and budget-minded household.

Divide very involved recipes into steps. For instance, you might make the sauce on Monday, the filling on Tuesday and put it all together for the freezer the next night. Breaking it up into steps like this helps the work fit in with tight schedules and makes the recipe more do-able. Continue reading “Home-Cooked Pre-Made Meals”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Resveratrol and Obesity

Obesity, Weight Control, Longevity and Resveratrol

Obesity has been termed an “epidemic” of staggering proportions by many doctors, scientists, scholars, and sociologists.  Its complications are now seen by many as being the leading cause of death in America and many other industrialized nations.

A growing number of Americans are obese …

According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – More than 33% of U.S. adults – more than 72 million people – and 16% of U.S. children are obese.  Since 1980, obesity rates for adults have doubled and rates for children have tripled.  Obesity rates among all groups in society – irrespective of age, sex, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education level, or geographic region – have increased markedly. Continue reading “Resveratrol and Obesity”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Cold Spaghetti Salad

This recipe has certainly been a lifesaver over the years. My sister, Debra first introduced me to this delicious salad a few years ago. It’s so economical to make and only has a few ingredients. Sometimes, homemade salads can get quite expensive but not this one. It really is a budget stretcher and it’s certainly a show stopper on any table.

I really enjoy making this cold spaghetti salad because it’s easy to make, packed with lots of flavor, and it never fails to satisfy. Every time I make this recipe it is the talk of the table. In fact I just made it this past Labor Day for a cookout at my niece house. Everyone loved it and it was the first salad to disappear. The cucumbers and tomatoes give this recipe extra freshness which make this recipe truly unforgettable. Once you make it, you’ll be making it quite often and you’ll always remember how delicious this recipe is. Continue reading “Cold Spaghetti Salad”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Dig This – It’s National Potato Month!

My editor recently informed me that September just happens to be National Potato Month. Being both an Irishman by ancestry and a lover of all things potato- mashed, baked, french-fried and roasted – I eagerly offered to do some digging for dirt on the beloved vegetable.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, potatoes are the most popular veggie in America… hands down. Unfortunately that’s a greasy hands down because a great many of our processed potatoes end up as french fries!

The USDA claims the typical American munches more than 140 pounds of potatoes every year. That’s a full 50 pounds more than the per-capita consumption of tomatoes, the second-place veggie. And that second-place ranking is kinda ironic since tomatoes are technically a fruit anyway! Continue reading “Dig This – It’s National Potato Month!”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

Dumb Me Down, Scottie

Languages have become more dynamic, they are in a state of flux, acquiring new vocabulary from other cultures. English is particularly adept at borrowing from other languages.

There are more foreign-loan words in German from the English than the other way round: Computer, car rental, fast food to name but a few. Often they are items of everyday life with a practical usage.

Even a few innocent ones from the French survive like restaurant, although one got rid of French fries which were politically corrected to freedom fries.

The English language contains already a number of words originating from the German language: Blitz, Lebensraum, Zeitgeist, Schadenfreude, and Gestalt (some are more respectable, some less tainted than others). They are all abstracts, their concepts better understood in their original coinage than the English equivalent. Continue reading “Dumb Me Down, Scottie”

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Negotiating for Power Washing Contracts At Restaurants – Bidding On Extra Requested Services

The other day, I was talking to a mobile detailer and fleet car wash business entrepreneur and he told me that it rained in his region quite a bit, and it was hard for him to maintain cash flow if it rained too much, because he was taking days off when he should be working, but no one wanted their cars cleaned when it was raining. Of course, I then recommended that he go out and get some customers and clientele doing various types of cleaning jobs that he could do even if it was raining.

Continue reading “Negotiating for Power Washing Contracts At Restaurants – Bidding On Extra Requested Services”

Barbecue, BBQ & grilling, BBQ food, Breakfast, Drinks, Family, Fish, Fruit, Healthy, Healthy eating, Italian, Light meals, Main Course, Mains, Meat, Meat & fish, Nutrition, One-pan recipes, Quick & Easy, Quick fixes, Recipe Roundup, Salad, Sauces & condiments, Seasonal, Seasonal produce, Sharing, Side Dish, Snacks, Summer, Summer Drinks, Uncategorized, Vegetable sides, Vegetables, Vegetarian

6 Things to Include in Your Personal Goal Setting

Over the past few days I have been slowly going over my goals for 2014, just to see if I am on track with what I have planned for this year. I think it is really important to have our goals written out, either in a notebook or diary, and for you visual learners you may like to use a dream or vision board. I personally have my goals written on a big whiteboard in my office. This is great because it means that everyday I walk past them and it’s a good little reminder of what they are and how close I am to achieving them.

With my goals I break them down into 6 different categories.

Health and fitness, spiritual, finance, education, family and Judo. Continue reading “6 Things to Include in Your Personal Goal Setting”

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Unusual Places and Things to Eat in Mexico City

You travel to try out new things and have new experiences, right? So why not stretch your palate a bit too during your travels? Although here in Mexico City you can truly experience the “exotic” in dining, you needn’t delve into the bizarre. Take a step a little off your normally beaten path with these suggestions. If you want to try something just a little different while eating out in Mexico City, try these.

Here are two Cevicherias or raw seafood specialty houses:

Continue reading “Unusual Places and Things to Eat in Mexico City”