(Source: pinkwhiskey, via ignitelight)
The Man And His Dinner
The man wants something filling, flavour rich and shovel-able! The result,
One pepper, a red chilli, the leftover mushrooms, few sprigs of parsley and manly red onion most definitely not sliced finely. All bound together with a rather large portion of fancy rice.
The sum of these was all thrown together in a large skillet and tossed around in the most flamboyant (chef like) of ways.
There was not a broccoli floret in sight, but instead a content eating machine ready for a game of footy.
What a man!
Green Tea Whats The Story…
Green tea, we all know it is good for you but how come?
Green tea is a very popular maybe down to the strong association with good health, but generally tea is having a major revival and with that comes lots of choice…
So, what makes Green Tea different?
To make the tea, leaves of Camellia sinensis are chopped, rolled and quickly steamed or heated to inactivate polyphenol oxidase.
However these processes surprisingly don’t affect the teas superpower, they amazingly managing to retain a considerable amount of their original catechins (Flavonoids) , and also result in a the development of some unique compounds (Vinson & Dabbagh, 1998).
With the growing interest in western cultures the green tea bandwagon is filled to the brim with differemt versions!
According to studies, Twinning’s Green Tea showed to embrace all the good things that all green teas promise to the highest level!
Matcha green tea is a powdered tea, where you ingest the whole tealeaf instead of simply the infusion, this brings along with it many benefits and unique nutrition characteristics such as the beta-carotene equivalent to a bowl of spinach!
Although green tea is a rich source of bioactive compounds (polyphenols and methyxanthines) the extraction efficiency of these compounds strongly depends on the extraction conditions.
The first extract (brewing) of green teas is often discarded due to excessive astringency, but what happens when we reuse the tea bag… well…
It is concluded that the practice of reusing tea samples is not a good way of drinking since most of health enhancing compounds (flavonoids) decompose (Astill, Birch, Dacombe, Humphrey, & Martin, 2001).
Research shows that the stability of bioactive compounds within green teas really does vary according to its preparation and storage.
Findings from investigations suggest that maximum extraction (getting the good bits out) efficiency of bioactive compounds (the good stuff) from green tea is achieved by brewing at 80 °C, for 5′ (powder), 15′ (bagged) and 30′ (loose leaf).
However, lets face it we don’t make a cup of tea to enjoy 30 mins later! So leave it for five and hope for the best I say! Also any longer then that and I always suffer the typical green tea bitterness, where you sip it thinking…
“oh this is why it is good for you, it tastes awful’
Enjoy your green tea often throughout the day, and if you’re decadent, enough to get the Matcha stuff… mix it into smoothies(add kiwis for extra green goodness and flavour!), soups or within your dressing for your salad!
Sarah-Jane Bedwell RD: “It’s about making calories count, not just about counting calories.
Mondays Lunch, I am very happy with my latest addition to the tupperware family.
It prevents soggy salad as the dressing can be released moments before you tuck in, give it a shake and there you have it!
Perfectly dressed but without the compromising the crunch!
Next came my super smoothie; rhubarb and cherry with mango and coconut and ginger added the needed kick.
I had ran out of mint leaves, which is a great tummy carer, but the ginger eases digestion all the same.
Shirley Temple
—You Gotta Eat Your Spinach Baby
You Gotta Eat Your Spinach Baby!
“If music be the food of love; play on.” Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, 1602
Beautifully bitter
Most people who know me have been subjected to my continuous cries for T.L.C this week as I have been suffereing with a dreadfull cold.
My superfood combat was initiated promptly after the first sniffle, my superfoods would conquer over this foreign enemy I was sure of it!
However it appeared that the cold was definitely not shifting so I began to rekindle my love affair with “potions”, Old wives tales, well Richy’s mums traditional remedy more like.
The main guy was the don of the citrus family… the Lemon.
On the tongue its bitter but used appropriately proves time and time again to be invaluable within the kitchen, and here is why;
Top ten reasons to ensure lemons are high on the agenda!
1. Mixed with hot water an effective potion is created for curing problems like digestive disorders, nausea, and heartburn
2. Regular consumption of lemon juice in the morning stimulates the bile-producing capacity of liver and aids digestion.
3. Lemons can promote the absorption of calcium and iron from natural foods.
4. The high vitamin C content (one regular-sized lemon supplies about 30 percent of an average person’s daily requirement) of lemons treats infections like asthma, tonsillitis and sore throat.
5. Concentrated juice of lemon also helps in dissolving stones present in the gall bladder.
6. Eating lemons also hastens healing of wounds and helps to lower high body temperature.
7. Lemon is also a well-known diuretic. Thus, it helps to treat problems associated with urinary tract infections.
8. Eating lemons also helps to dispel problems like arthritis or rheumatism.
9. Lemon juice mixed with glycerin is an effective remedy for smoothening chapped lips.
10. Lastly you can always put it in your bath for a deep cleanse.
From this it is easy to see the link with old wives tales and this member of the citrus family.
When buying lemons make sure you are meticulous, choose the ones that are smallish, heavy for their size, shiny, smooth or fine-grained skins oh and of course yellow! large lemons may be very appealing but it is an illusion, they are often thick-skinned and contain less of the essential juice!
