To Die for Hot Cocoa

Harry's Super Simple, Healthy Hot Cocoa

The secret to this easy recipe? Heat it slowly. Slow heat helps release the antioxidants.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder with 70% or more cacao (such as Scharffen Berger natural cocoa powder or Ghirardelli unsweetened cocoa)
2 teaspoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup skim or low-fat milk

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently (do not let it boil), stirring frequently, until cocoa is just beginning to steam. Pour into a mug and enjoy.

EDITOR'S PICK
Valrhona chocolate


Treat yourself to chocolate -- dark, rich, 70% cocoa organic chocolate from Valrhona. Break off a square from the smooth, silky bar and let it slowly melt in your mouth, enveloping your taste buds with a deep, earthy, chocolaty finish. Lowering your blood pressure never tasted so good.

Organizing the Fridge

As I put more foods inside the fridge, the space gets tigher and the harder it is for me to get something out of it when it is time for me to make meal. It was easier before because we have a freezer in the utility room, but we left it when we sold our house. So here are some tips that helped me with my fridge. Got these from AllRecipes.com.
 

-->Ridding the Rank: The fridge is full of blind spots, shadowy places where half-eaten jars of marinara sauce go to ripen. Making the fridge more user-friendly starts with reclaiming it from its science project past. Toss out the funky, foul and forever unused.

Meaty Matters: Meats need their space. Keeping meats separate from other foods makes good sense. Paper or plastic wrappings often leak, creating a messy and potentially unhealthy situation. Place meats on a meats-only tray to catch liquid and prevent contamination.

Preserving Produce: Direct contact with plastic produce bags causes lettuce and parsley to go bad quickly. To preserve the life of leaf lettuce or parsley, try wrapping them in paper towels, then place them back into plastic bags and put them in the crisper. Apples release ethylene gas that can cause produce to spoil faster; store apples away from the vegetable drawer.

A Candy that Fights Bacteria!

After reading this article, you will never look at candy canes again the way you used to . The flavors and ingredients of this candy is the secret of it. What do you think? Read and find out more benefits of eating to our health.

New studies on peppermint, the key flavoring in traditional candy canes, reveal the herb may do everything from kill germs to treat digestive troubles.Some researchers now advise consumers to eat a tablespoon or more of fresh peppermint, and other green herbs, daily.

Peppermint oil, found in most candy canes, also appears to have health benefits. A recent British Medical Journal study, led by McMaster University researcher Alex Ford, concludes that peppermint oil should be the first line of defense against irritable bowel syndrome, a condition characterized by abdominal pain and irregular bowels that affects between 5 to 20 percent of the population.Peppermint oil, and other potent essential oils, may even one day be wafted in their vapor form over food to prevent the growth of bacteria.

Variety is the spice in Malay Foods

Before I came here to U.S., I was living in Malaysia with my Aunt and her family. Her husband is a British National and is an Expat. These people likes foods and eating out; and while there I get to taste different culinary. I came to like Malay Foods for they are spicy and yet very delicious. These are the foods I miss most which I couln't find anywhere here.

The traditional culinary style has been greatly influenced by the long-ago traders from neighboring countries, such as Indonesia, India, the Middle East, and China.Malay food is often described as spicy and flavorful as it utilizes a melting pot of spices and herbs.

Nasi Lemak - a rice cooked with coconut milk and served with anchovies, nuts, cucumbers, a chili paste known as sambal and a choice of curries.

Kangkung belacan' is kangkung wok-fried in a pungent sauce of shrimp paste (belacan) and hot chilli peppers. Various other items are cooked this way, including petai (which is quite bitter when eaten raw; some older generation Malays still eat it as is) and yardlong beans.

Ketupat and rendang is the most delicious cuisine which is served normally on Hari Raya festival.

Rice is the staple diet in any Malay meal. It is often served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper too. Most meals are eaten by using your fingers, and eating utensils are kept to a minimum. All dishes are served at the same time, accompanied by a refreshing drink. Fish is popular in Malay cooking, as with other seafood such as shrimps and cuttlefish. Beef and mutton are very popular choices but never pork as it is against their religious beliefs to eat pork. The other popular white meat is chicken.

Filipino dish for dinner...

This is our dinner last night, Tinolang Manok and Ginisang Ampalaya. My husband like the Tinola very much especially with the Papaya in there.

I didn't have pepper or chili leaves, but have fresh basil leaves and that was the green veggie you are seeing there...
Ampalaya on the other hand has bacon instead of pork; it gives the dish good flavor than pork.