A Vegan Diet – The Key to a Healthy Weight

Veganism is a somewhat foreign idea to many Americans. For generations, animal products have been the stuff of Americana: families have started their mornings with scrambled eggs, discussed their days over steak, and enjoyed ice cream desserts before bedtime. At the same time though, our waistlines have ballooned and our arteries have become clogged. Veganism offers a healthy alternative. Try it for awhile, or try it for good. Either way, you’ll reap great benefits: vegans are rewarded with slimmer figures, cleaner-running engines, and enhanced energy.

What is veganism?

The term “veganism” was coined just a few decades ago, and it’s derived from the word “vegetarianism.” Basically, vegetarians do not eat animals, but they will eat animal products such as cheese and eggs. Vegans exclude all animal products from their diets. Veganism involves avoiding milk and eggs as well as honey, gelatin, and animal-based food additives. (A common red food dye, for instance, is made from beetles!) Continue reading “A Vegan Diet – The Key to a Healthy Weight”

Organic Farming: Key to Healthy Living?

What is organic farming? How it promotes healthy living? Organic farming is a form of agriculture that relies crop production on green manure, compost, and biological pest control instead of using pesticides and herbicides. Therefore such process can help individuals have a healthy lifestyle because of the absence of chemical content.

These organic agricultural methods are internationally regulated and legally enforced by many nations. In our cooperative, all our suppliers’ farms are fair-trade and organically certified by an international certifying body. Fair-trade in the sense that we follow the international fair-trade protocol especially in terms of wage compliance requirements and child labor laws. Organic also because the only allowed fertilizer in our farms is SALT. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony.

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6 Keys to Healthy Meals in Slow Cooker

Many of us grew up thinking hearty, healthy meals meant hours of preparation and stirring over a hot stove. Even when foods weren’t tended to each minute, we had to check to see that they were not sticking to a pan or drying out in the oven. Before the ’70s there was no crock pot or microwave oven. A woman had little time to spend outside. That was then.

Today, autumn is here; the air has a crispness all its own. At my home in the Ozarks, trees are donning their fall colors as golden flowers adorn the hillsides. This morning deer grazing through the meadow below the walnut grove seemed to be bidding me to follow. I wanted to go outside and play!

However, there are still meals to prepare, clothes to wash, people to care for today. To enable me to have time to sit and watch the wildlife, I am learning to make better use of my slow cooker, my Crock Pot. Cooking meals with the slow cooker has many benefits including, less dishes to wash, less time tending to foods on the stove, a cooler kitchen and less energy used. Continue reading “6 Keys to Healthy Meals in Slow Cooker”

Food Made From Wheat

It is believed that wheat possesses a certain characteristic that enhances the natural flavors in food preparations, making the dishes better tasting and succulent. That is, of course, the objective, to make preparations that will satisfy the palate. That is why most Taiwanese restaurants to make traditional Chinese dumplings, they only use natural wheat. And the same with the noodles and other dishes, they make them from the finest wheat flour. And so with breaded and battered foods. Not only does it possess higher fiber content but also it plumps our items that give them the natural flavor diners will always love.

In top-rated restaurants, they only use the finest wheat flour to create top quality items that they pass on their valued customers. As they maintain this quality, they aspire to gain clientele trust and patronage. While some restaurants may opt for rice grains as their ingredients, top-rated eateries believe that their preference for the wheat makes the dishes better tasting and extra special. Continue reading “Food Made From Wheat”

Mauritian Food – An Overview

Mauritius is an island of about 1 million inhabitants situated in the Indian Ocean. The ethnic diversity of the local people is reflected in its cuisine. As a result, the cuisine of Mauritius is a blend of Indian Cuisine, Creole, Chinese and European. In Mauritius, local fruits and vegetables used under the influence of culinary traditions of France, India, China and Africa with its variety of flavours and aromas have resulted in a cuisine that is unique to the island.

The most commonly served in Mauritius, and tasty dishes include Creole rougailles, Indian curries and biryanis, Chinese “mine frite”, and French “gratin de crabes sur coeur de palmiste”. All these are part of the cuisine of Mauritius. The commonly used ingredients in Mauritius are tomatoes, onions, ginger, garlic and chillies while the traditional base is definitely the curries and “rougailles” which is made from the blends of home crushed spices. Spices also constitute a major part of Mauritian cuisine. The extensive use of spices such as saffron, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves provide a powerful, yet subtle flavour to the dish. This interblending of spices give the cuisine of Mauritius its charm and uniqueness. Continue reading “Mauritian Food – An Overview”

Disposable Chopsticks for Restaurants

Using disposable chopsticks is an environment-friendly as well as cost-saving measure for restaurants and food service stations. They cut costs and also add a lot of convenience to your food service activities. These versatile sticks are indispensable for Asian, Chinese or Japanese restaurants. They are ideal for use in parties, picnics and barbeques.

Premium Quality and Low Price

Disposable models of Chinese chopsticks include those made of bamboo and wood. Most restaurants prefer bamboo chopsticks over the wooden variety due to their durability and strength. Varying in length from 8 to 10 inches, popular models of Chinese style bamboo disposable chop sticks come individually wrapped in a red paper sleeve, white paper sleeve as well as convenient cartons. The back of the sleeves carry a easy to follow, quick guide on how to hold/use chop sticks for beginners. Some chop sticks are printed with yellow Chinese characters symbolizing good luck, long life, good health, and well-being. Continue reading “Disposable Chopsticks for Restaurants”

Top Eight Restarants in Melbourne

Melbourne is synonymous with both cutting edge dining and world class bars, it seems around every corner and hidden down every laneway a new restaurant opens weekly and your biggest decision is deciding where to eat.

There is literally everything on offer from Spanish tapas, to American meatballs or Chinese dumplings in Chinatown. Head up to one of the Rooftop bars to see the city from above, or seek out one of the hidden restaurants down the ambling laneways and feel as though you have stumbled across a hidden gem.

Melbourne has its finger on the pulse when it comes to all things culinary. Dining and drinking really are the star attraction of any visit to Melbourne.

While the sheer volume of incredible bars and restaurants make it hard to pick, anyone with limited time in Melbourne should read the below list of top eight amazing restaurants in Melbourne.

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Easy Chinese Food Recipes

Are you looking for that great flavour that you find in Chinese recipes, but simply do not know where to start? Or maybe you think it’s too hard or takes too much time. Well, you don’t have to be a professional cook to prepare some great, quick, and easy meals for the whole family. I’ll help you bring home the restaurant flavour with a few quick recipes.

Spicy Beef, Shrimp, and Bok Choy

* 1/4 cup Shao Hsing rice wine

* 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster-flavored sauce

* 2 teaspoons cornstarch

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A Guide to Key Changes in BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 8

The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety is the most widely used of the commercial standards for assuring production of safe food. BRC Certification is designed to verify products that meet consistent high levels of safety and quality.
On August 1, 2018, BRC published the most awaited BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 8. This new version of the standard will replace Issue 7 after a six month transition phase. There are several changes, additions and amendments between issue 7 and issue 8 of the BRC Global Standard, including the integration of pet food, new environmental monitoring clauses and a heightened focus on culture and top management commitment. Despite being an evolution from previous versions of the standard, the BRC Global Standard for Issue 8 introduces quite a lot of significant changes compared to its predecessor Issue 7. The format and content of the Standard is designed to allow an assessment of a company’s premises, operational systems and procedures by a competent third party the certification body against the requirements of the Standard.
BRC 8 will be effective from February 2019. Therefore, anyone who has an audit after the end of January 2019 will need to familiarise themselves with the differences between BRC Issue 7 and BRC Issue 8. Continue reading “A Guide to Key Changes in BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 8”

Melting Method Cakes

Cake making by the melting method really is a piece of cake because it requires the minimum of effort. This method is specially designed to cope with the extra sweeteners needed to make soft and sticky traditional cakes such as gingerbread.

Melting-method cakes have a characteristic tacky, sticky texture throughout the cake, and it is this that has made cake like gingerbread so very popular and has given them such a high place in traditional baking. This stickiness is achieved by increasing the proportion of sweetening agents to ether ingredients in the cake.

To handle the extra volume of sweetener, a special method is used. With this method the fat is melted with the sweetener before the flour is added. Before cooking the cake mixture has a good texture and a consistency similar to a thick batter, rather than the soft topping consistency of cake mixtures made by the all-in-one or creaming methods. Continue reading “Melting Method Cakes”