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We are constantly being told what we shouldn’t eat, what we should eat or how often we should or should not eat it and with the hundreds of diet regimes (backed by celebrities with amazing figures) it’s a wonder how we mere mortals know how to feed ourselves at all!

A confusing topic that comes up quite often is eating beef and other red meats. It might be that we struggle with this one because it’s just so tasty and there aren’t many people who won’t salivate at the mention of a juicy beef steak. But the conflicting recommendations available on the Internet, in magazines and on TV about eating beef means it has become a guilty pleasure with the health conscious to the ordinary families may choose to cross it off the food list altogether or spend hours working it off at the gym.

“Eating beef on a daily basis is bad for you and it sits in your stomach rotting long after you have eaten it. Red meat contributes to heart disease and is full of unhealthy fats.”

Sound familiar?

Let me suggest to you that eating red meat can be a healthy option and you could actually eat a nice steak daily if you like. You see, the key to a healthy diet is simply about moderation and getting the right balance. Eating red meat is not so much a problem; it is what else is on your dinner plate and the quality of the beef.

Avoid: Red meats that are processed and contain additives E.g. Burgers, frozen meats, SPAM (yuk!), etc
Instead: Choose fresh cuts of organic beef from cattle that is pasture-raised

Avoid: Eating bread with beef For example, Hamburgers
Instead: Serve fresh salad and vegetables with beef. These contain enzymes which break down fatty deposits.

Preparing a healthy Steak meal is simple:

1. Purchase some fresh organic beef from a trusted retailer
2. Grill or fry in own juices to however you like it
3. Add a good portion of any of the following fat busting foods: Asparagus, Beets/Beetroot, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Celery, Cucumbers, Garlic Lettuce, Radish, Horseradish, Tomato.

If you want to keep it healthy but add more flavor to your steak? During cooking, just add crushed or chopped garlic, crushed peppercorns, rosemary, mixed herbs or other herbs and spices. Alternatively, marinade the steak beforehand cooking using your own mix of herbs and natural yoghurt. Delicious!

Other Resources:

Beef Choices (PDF at beeffoodservice.com)

Technorati Tags: beef, cooking, recipe, red meat, steak

There can be little doubt that beef is one of the most popular meats in the world, and this is not likely to change any time soon.

In times of late, there has been ample argument on the question of whether beef is a safe food to be enjoyed by all, or a dangerous ‘bad’ food to be shunned at all costs.

So what are we to believe?Just a 80 gram offering of quality beef may supply more than 10% of the consumers essential daily requirement of vitamin b6, protein, vitamin b12, zinc, iron, niacin and phosphorus.

However, before we do so, here is a really tasty beef recipe that you can cook for your children or family.

This is a really tasty recipe for ‘macaroni and beef chili’. It is quick to make and is a good meal for a crowd.

Ingredients:
—————-
Macaroni - uncooked : one c
Lean Minced Beef : half a pound
Garlic powder : 0.5 tsp
Hot cayenne or chili Powder : one tsp
Salt : 1 x pinch
Freshly ground black peppercorns : 1 x sm. pinch
Tomato soup : 1 Tin
Quality cheddar cheese : 1 x oz. (finely grated)

Instructions:
—————-
Bring a good sized saucepan of water to the boil and cook the macaroni about 7 minutes.
Fry the meat until browned in another good sized pan and very carefully drain off any fat that has been produced.
Stir in the garlic, chili powder, salt and pepper and then stir until well mixed.
Reduce the heat and fry gently for approximately 5 mins.
Stir in the cooked macaroni and tomato soup, and bring to a rolling boil.
Cook for a few more minutes until soup and macaroni are heated through.

Before you serve, add the cheese, and heat briskly till it melts.

Ladle into bowls and serve your guests.

This is a great beef recipe to cook in volume as left overs can be kept in the fridge and served the next day.
If you have cooked very large quantities, you can leave the cheese out and freeze portions for later. Once it is ready add the cheese, and heat briskly till it has melted.

Now you have a good beef recipe here are a few definitive nutrition facts:

1/. The zinc that is in quality beef is imperative for normal growth, strengthens the immune system, has been proven to help heal cuts and grazes, controls hunger and appetitie and can improve your ability to experience taste.

2/. Many folk think that you must stay away from beef as thinking it includes increased levels of saturated fat. Although this may once have been the case, lean beef sold nowadays is much healthier than it was in the past, and due to modern farming methods well over half the fats found in today’s quality beef are monounsaturated fats which are thought by experts to be more ‘heart friendly’ than other fats.

3/. Some folk claim that people on a diet must not eat beef. If they did any research, they would soon see that this is plain wrong, in reality the 80 gram portion of beef that real experts prescribe as a sensible daily limit, is really just 10% of the regular two thousand calories per day diet.

4/. If you think about it on paper, beef is nearly as beneficial for you as expensive multivitamins as it is a first-rate provider of iron, niacin, phosphorus, vitamin b6, protein and vitamin b12.

5/. Even a 3 ounce serving of lean beef can deliver more than ten percent of ones required daily requirement of phosphorus, vitamin b6, protein, vitamin b12, zinc, iron, and niacin.

6/. Lean beef is a good source of Vitamin b12 and vitamin b6, which are believed by nutritionalists to help in reducing strokes and heart attacks and also assist the body to make erythrocytes.

7/. Taking the uncooked weight,, 100 grams of beef provides:

* approximately 200 kcal
* 12.15g of fat.
* 319mg of Potassium.
* 3.8mg of Zinc.
* 20.71g of Protein.

If this beef recipe is not for you, why not try something completely different? By searching online, you can easily find a good selection of chicken recipes or fish recipes that should satisfy those who don’t like beef, and if you have any non-meat eaters in you family, there are just as many vegetarian recipes to enjoy.

I trust this has left you with a better understanding of both the pros and cons of consuming beef, and also given you a wonderful new addition to your cookbook.

Technorati Tags: beef, cook, cooking, diet, eating, food, nutrition, recipes

KitchenAid has designed scores of different food mixers during most of the last century, and one of the best mixers produced by the company is the KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus mixer. This mixer features a powerful motor and a potluck-sized bowl in addition to a innovative spiral hook that will let you knead bread with greater efficiency. The KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus mixer is one of the best food mixers you could own.

The KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus mixer is a industrial grade mixer which features a hefty 450 watt direct-drive motor. This durable motor is attached to a steel gear transmission. The transmission components are made of polished stainless steel that renders them more durable and less susceptible to rust. Because of this, the lifespan for this particular machine will be greater than that of the brands of mixers on the market. If you’re looking for a pink Kitchenaid Mixer, or some other artsy color, you may want to look into the Artisan series.

The bowl intended for this mixer is considerably larger than most other bowls you will find on regular mixers. The bowl capacity single-handedly reveals this mixer to be a great investment for professional kitchens. The bowl will fit nearly twelve cups of flour. This could let you use the machine once to make seven pounds of mashed potatoes or ten dozen cookies.

The bowl also has a comfort grip handle. This handle can be used to help move  the bowl onto the mixer base and to bring it back out easily. When a bowl that large is stuffed with a batch of batter or bread dough, a sturdy handle can make the difference between a birthday cake and a very sticky floor.

For working with flour, the Professional 5 Plus mixer features a PowerKnead spiral dough hook. This hook can easily replace hand kneading with efficient and speedy high-capacity dough mixing. What makes this hook an amazing implement is its capacity for kneading about twenty percent more dough than that of other kinds of dough hooks. If you’re searching for a pink Kitchenaid Mixer, or another pretty color, you may want to check out the Artisan series.

This particular machine works at a variety of speeds just like other KitchenAid mixers. This mixer offers ten different speeds which are easy to change with the one-touch slide control.

Many different innovative attachments are integrated with the KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus mixer. The mixer comes with a pouring shield, a flat beater and a wire whip to accompany the convenient PowerKnead dough hook. Various accessories available through KitchenAid may be used along with these tools by attaching them to the power hub that can be found at the top of the mixer. There are many nice colors to choose from, but if you’re looking for a pink kitchenaid mixer, then you should see the one produced in cooperation with the Komen Foundation.

The KitchenAid Professional 5 Plus mixer is one of the finest food mixers to own. This mixer offers a sturdy and powerful motor and gear drive that can easily work with larger amounts of food. It also comes with the super-efficient PowerKnead dough hook. This machine is certainly a mixer that stands apart from other food mixers.

Technorati Tags: appliances, cooking, food mixer, home, kitchen, kitchenaid

If you are seeking to impress your guests at your next dinner party or special event enrolling in a cooking school will teach the necessary skills and culinary tips to properly prepare gourmet food. Most of the larger retail grocery stores have a gourmet foods isle. If you cannot find what you are hungry for there try a quick online search.

Online gourmet stores offer many of the hard to find gourmet meats shipped direct to your doorstep. They may come frozen and packaged in specialized storage containers to retain their freshness and quality. This is especially convenient if you do not live close to large shopping areas.

By searching online your choices are vast. Although you may have some fine specialty meat shops in your area supplying you with some very fresh and tasty meats, they may not stock the finer gourmet meats.

You may be serving coffee to family and friends or you may have a restaurant and want to provide the tastiest gourmet coffee around. The fresh aroma that wafts through your home or cafe beckons guests in. With so many brands on the market today discovering which gourmet coffee is best is difficult and depends on personal tastes.

Cappuccino and espresso are two of the most well-loved gourmet coffees, and flavored coffees are always popular as well. When it comes to finer gourmet foods, gourmet coffees definitely rank up there and taste great when you add flavors to them such as Irish cream, vanilla, and caramel.

Of course no talk of finer gourmet foods would be complete without discussing gourmet chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate, and in fact there are very few foods in history that are as highly prized as chocolate.

Gourmet chocolate is not only delicious but is also often given out as a gift, and a few of the favorite gourmet chocolates are truffles, nougats, mousses, chocolate gingers, and chocolate covered fruits such as strawberries and apricots.

Searching for finer gourmet foods can be done easily online. They can be shipped conveniently to your front door and added to your next gourmet meal or dinner party menu. Whether you are looking for gourmet meats, coffee or chocolates it is always worth it to take gourmet cooking classes. The the extra time and effort will definitely pay off with the compliments you will receive.

Technorati Tags: cooking, creative cooking school, gourmet food, gourmet foods

Rival is known for all kinds of great kitchen appliances. One of its more popular products is its Rival vacuum sealer, the Seal-A-Meal vacuum sealer. This is a top of the line sealer that is easy to operate and is pleasantly low priced. It can additionally be hung on the wall for added convenience. Here’s several ways that this Rival vacuum sealer is a great option to own and use.

The Seal-A-Meal vacuum sealer performs without difficulty in that the Seal-A-Meal utilizes a standardized roll of plastic. 8×10 inch and 11×10 inch rolls are made for this machine. The rolls are made to be quickly attached onto the sealer with a quick and easy loading mechanism. This enables the rolls to be loaded correctly so that they can perform well. Quart sized bags may be installed in this sealer also.

After the roll is installed into the Seal-A-Meal, no other actions are needed. The machine can begin working as soon as the roll is loaded. After that, what the user has to do is choose the temperature settings, place the products for storage on a layer of the roll and then start the machine so that the contents can be completely sealed in a secure manner.

The sealer may also be cleaned quickly. The food channel can be detached from the front so it can be cleaned, which enables everything to do its job properly.

The bags can be cut automatically by the sealer. The sealer will cut a clean line so that it will be easier for the materials to be safely held and making sure that the bag will be tight.

The Seal-A-Meal can even be wall mounted without effort. This is convenient on account of the appliance will take up a measurably smaller space in a kitchen.

The Seal-A-Meal vacuum sealer is economical, as well. Most comparable products may cost more than $150. The Seal-A-Meal vacuum sealer, however, is different. It is priced at approximately $100 American/$120 Canadian. Some stores will occasionally have it for less than a hundred dollars when on sale. Additionally, refill rolls can cost around ten dollars.

Some added accessories can be used with the sealer also. An air hose for vacuuming air out of the bags is offered as an accessory. Some accessories include containers to store other items in, or possibly to assist with storing additional amounts of sealer bags.

The Seal-A-Meal vacuum sealer is a method of food storage that should absolutely be checked out. This sealer is effective for keeping foods fresh and is simple to use and maintain. It is also less expensive than other sealers. It is your best choice for a vacuum sealer.

Technorati Tags: cooking, food, kitchen, vacuum sealer