I cook hot…not like high temp hot but like chapped lips hot.  My go to high heat dish is my pulled pork or carnitas.  I like it so hot that my pulled pork sandwich must be served with a very cooling slaw on top to balance the burn (I promise ill share the recipe on here one day).  However, we were sent a ton of hot sauces and due to issues with time I had to adapt to chicken wings because I like to make the hot sauce part of the base of the stock for cooking.  So first my wing recipe with

Ben’s Roasted WINGS:

• Put some non-stick down in a baking dish – pick your poison doesn’t matter
• Chuck as many wings as you can in that bad ass
• Season the wings with:
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Onion Powder
  • Garlic Powder
  • Smoked Paprika
  • A Sprinkle of Cheyne Pepper
  • A few sprigs of thyme
• Add a little water to the bottom of the pan
• Cover the pan tightly with tinfoil
• Cook until finished – flip half way (eyeball it)

Now, this is just a base naked wing now it is time to sauce!!!!

First up Moore’s sent me over 4 sauces from low to high heat:

Moore’s Spicy Mustard Hot sauce:

This stuff right here is my jam I would put this on all kinds of things.  This had the best all over flavor of all the sauces I ate today.  It is the lowest heat of everything I tried but without question the most robust flavor.

Update:  In the past week I’ve found myself putting this on everything!

Moore’s Jalapeno Host Sauce

Actually some solid spice here!  Very good, a nice little lasting heat but not overwhelming.  I would not use this sauce everyday but I would use it from time to time.

Moore’s Harissa Hot Sauce

This is the closest to a traditional super-hot wing sauce.  Love it.  I’ll use this sauce to make wings for myself whenever.  This is the exact sauce I would use if I had friends over for football and they wanted hot wings.  Not mild wings not medium wings but HOT WINGS!!

Moore’s Habanero Hot Sauce

I was expecting to have to put on the rubber gloves and Chap Stick for this one but actually not the case.  This is a very solid long lasting heat but not like a super concentrated pepper feel.  It was hot and the heat lasted a couple minutes but it did not make me reach for the milk or put a tear to my eyes.

Ghost Scream: Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce

This is a legit everyday hot sauce.  What was so surprising here was the “tang.”  Simply a toasty and tangy sauce to put on anything! On wings it was spectacular.  Later in my night (sorry no pictures) I put it on some sushi and it was amazing.

BTW the bottle is already gone.

• Get $1.00 off a bottle of any Moore’s Marinades or Sauces >> $1.00 OFF
• Moore’s Marinades and Sauces are available at Walmart, Publix, Kroger, Target and more LOCATIONS

Featured Image Source: Pixabay

Japan has a long and rich history when it comes to sword crafting. As a result, it is no wonder why they also have one of the best kitchen knives in the world. A lot of skill, time, and mastery goes into the manufacturing of these knives, and the prices will obviously reflect that. What you have probably guessed until now is that there are a lot of styles and types of Japanese chef knives each with their own characteristics and local flavor. In this article, we will be discussing how exactly they are manufactured, their function, and other elements specific to this school of kitchen knives. Here is why Japanese chef knives are the best choice.

Manufacturing Techniques

Unsurprisingly, the techniques employed to manufacture Japanese kitchen knives are similar to those used by medieval sword makers. All of the characteristics of their chef knives, from the design, curvature, blade, shape and other features are the results of techniquse and skills carefully honed over the centuries and passed from father to son.

As further proof for the superiority of the Japanese chef knife is the fact they are manufactured using a technique that involves laying hard steel on a soft iron base, a technique which is specific to the sword-making mastery that brought us samurai weapons such as the katana and others. If you want to find out more technical details about this whole process, make sure to check out https://chefknives.expert/, a website filled with guides, tutorials and well-written reviews about the best chef knives.

However, there is no single method of forging and laminating the blades, but the results are always the same – they have razor-sharp edges and are highly resistant to chipping. Traditional Japanese knife forging is a whole, complex process, which involves a tightly knit division of work throughout which each craftsman uses his special skills to handle a certain, predetermined aspect of the knife. For example, the master who handles the forging of the knife is not the same one that sharpens it – this job will be handed to another highly-skilled master who had dedicated his life to this activity.

How to Spot an Authentic Japanese Knife

Due to Japan’s rich history in knife manufacturing, their products come in many shapes and forms. European chef knives are usually designed to handle rough kitchen tasks, such as hacking through thick chunks of meat and cutting hard produce. On the other hand, Japanese knives are arguably more delicate (in spite of the hardness of the steel), designed for specialized tasks – for example, cutting food in elaborate shapes without ruining the overall aspect of it.

However, not all Japanese knives are built equal. While browsing for the perfect knife, you might encounter products that are deemed as ‘’Japanese’’ without being forged by local craftsmen. As a result, it is important to make the distinction between true, authentic, handcrafted Japanese knives and Japanese ‘’style’’ knives, which in most cases are manufactured in China.

The center of authentic Japanese knife manufacturing is in the city of Sakai, located in Osaka. This city’s tradition of manufacturing the highest quality handmade knives can be traced back to the 16^th century when a few master swords-makers decided to apply their skills to other fields and started making knives for tobacco cutting. Since then, the city of Sakai, along with various locations in the Fukui, Kochi, Gifu and Niigata prefectures have become the main sources of top quality chef knives, with Sakai alone holding 90 % of shares of industrial knives used by the best chefs in the world.

Therefore, if you are looking for the highest quality materials and construction, you should do the proper research and find out if the blade was manufactured in Japan. This is not to say that knives built in China are bad – because they are relatively cheap, you can buy one to do a sort of trial run to see if Japanese knives are to your liking.

Types of Japanese Chef Knives

After this short history lesson, it is time to discuss the various types of Japanese chef knives and their purposes. Since this subject is vast enough to merit a separate article of its own, we will be focusing on the ones that are the most common:

• Gyuto/Gyutou – Regarding design and utility, this particular type is kind of a hybrid between the traditional Japanese Nakiri and the standard Western chef’s knife. It is a multipurpose kitchen instrument, designed for a wide range of tasks such as slicing vegetables, meat, and Thus, its blade is longer, thinner and nimbler than usual.
• This is another multipurpose kitchen knife, similar from a structural standpoint to the gyuto, but much shorter and thinner. In fact, it is a combination between the gyuto and the nakiri. It is very agile, easy to grasp, and ensures seamless cutting motions.
• A chef’s knife designed solely for slicing vegetables and fish into thin, elegant pieces. Thanks to the construction of the blade, oily and fatty fish will not stick to the blade.
• A traditional vegetable knife, similar to a cleaver. Featuring a flat profile and a straight blade (although some feature a slight curvature), it is good either for crushing hard vegetables or chopping them.
• The Bunka. A medium-sized chef knife which excels at elegantly cutting smaller food items, such as carrots, shallots, celery, garlic and herbs without crushing them.

Conclusion

Japan has a long and rich history in sword making, so it is no wonder why the best chef knives in the world also come from this country. While Western chef knives are designed to handle as many kitchen tasks as possible, the Japanese ones are highly specialized, each excelling at one particular job. If you are serious about cooking and what to take it to the next level, consider buying a Japanese chef knife and you will soon feel like a world-class chef.

We are coffee junkies.  

Yes. We start our days with cold brew everyday.  On Sundays and Wednesdays I make a pitcher for our morning coffees.  Then for the rest of the day I go to various coffee shops and office coffee (the worst kind of coffee, unless its cafecito time).  I take my coffee black and Allyson takes it with a bit of almond milk and stevia. Before discovering my new favorite coffee secret, I’d go to market and get some cheaper concentrate and use that for my cold brew. But, now once we discovered Tayst all that has changed, because my friends, my new favorite coffee from Tayst is legit!

Photo courtesy of: Tayst

Tayst is super simple.

1. Choose how many cups you want per month
2. Pick your brew
3. Receive your coffee monthly.

Boooooooommmmm….DONE

Drop it in & BOOM cold brew for tomorrow at work.

Yes, it’s that easy… We’ve been enjoying Tayst and we wanted you to know what we think is awesome about their pods…

You can use the pods in single serving brewers or you can drop a pod in a cup of water overnight and wake up to an awesome cup of cold brew.  Why is this so amazing? I can leave some pods and a cup at the office and have a second cup rather than the sludge we all know as office coffee. A second cold brew at work is a game changer!! This is making me want to get a second subscription just for work (hmmm…I wonder if I can charge it to my company account?)  Also, all three of the brews that I tried were smooth and easy, not bitter at all but still bold.

Keurig or Cold…

We prefer iced coffee (hey, it’s hot here in Florida), but I know that there are LOTS of you who drink their coffee hot each morning.

Best of all

Tayst comes in EARTH FRIENDLY packaging using use 100% post- recycled and recyclable materials in their boxes and their coffee is Rainforest Alliance  Certified (with no agrochemicals).

Coffee pods are100% Compostable

• The Compostable pod degrades, creating nutrient rich soil
• The Pod Lid is made from bio materials and water-based compostable ink
• The Pod Ring is made from natural bean skins
• The Mesh is renewable bio resins
• The Pod mesh gives the BEST fullest flavor extraction!

Our Taystful Dark-And-Stormy (yes, we DID make a drink with our Tayst coffee)

• 2oz Dark Rum
• 0.5oz lemon juice
• 0.5oz simple syrup
• 1oz Tayst Cold Brewed coffee

Our take?

Overall Tayst is amazing and I would recommend it to everyone.

• For more details and to start YOUR Tayst subscription visit: Tayst.com
• HOLD THE FORT! Right now Tayst is offering our readers 30% off plus a free mug with THIS link http://bit.ly/30offandmug
• Subscriptions begin at just $24.20 per month

Have you ever looked around you and thought that people seem to be cooking a lot less than they used to? Well, if you have thought that, you’re certainly onto something. According to the USDA, Americans spend an average of just 37 minutes a day preparing food, serving it, and cleaning up afterwards. That’s 37 minutes in total for all of the activities listed.

What this means, in practice, is that a truly breathtaking number of people are living their lives subsisting almost entirely on pre-prepared ready meals and processed snacks from the store, or else are ordering takeaway or eating at restaurants on a regular basis.

Increasingly, the same trend appears to be manifesting around the rest of the world.

There are many reasons why this is by no means a good thing, and why the return of cooking from scratch needs to return as a norm, as soon as possible. Here are a few of those reasons.

It’s a primal thing to do, almost like a meditation

Human beings have been cooking for at least as long as we’ve been human beings. A look at the biological makeup of humans — our relatively weak jaw muscles, combined with our enormous brains, that require a vast supply of energy — suggest that our species could only have got enough calories to survive, while living in the wild, through the incredible technology of cooking.

Cooking is truly ancient and primal, from meals roasted around the bonfire, to the modern kitchen.

When cooking you breathe in the smell of the food, the aroma of the butcher block oil from https://www.realmilkpaint.com/butcher-block/, you feel the fresh dough under your fingers, or wince at the sting in your eyes from cutting onions.

The experience of cooking, in and of itself, can be very meditative, and can help to reconnect you to the more essential rhythms of life.

It’s far better for your health to cook from scratch

The bane of the modern culinary world is processed foods; a category that can include everything from the loaves of bread you find in your local supermarket, to breakfast cereals, gourmet “ready meals”, cans of sugary soft drink, and chocolate bars.

When food is processed, many dubious additives are added, and many vital components are likely to be left out, or included in the wrong dosages.

One of the starkest examples of this is that research repeatedly shows that eating fructose-rich fruit helps to fight obesity, while eating high fructose corn syrup is directly linked to obesity.

Reclaim control of your health, and begin cooking from scratch.

Tasty food is one of life’s simple pleasures that everyone can enjoy

Everyone enjoys eating tasty food. In fact, it’s probably not too much of a stretch to suggest that a tasty meal is one of life’s great pleasures.

The thing is, if you don’t make the effort to cook, and to expand your cooking skills, you will only ever be able to enjoy tasty food at someone else’s dinner table, metaphorically in terms of processed foods, and literally, in terms of friends and family.

Learn to cook well, reintroduce delicious food to your life as a regular treat, and make the lives of the people around you better by means of this humble but seriously meaningful talent.

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

The kitchen is my home within my home.  Everything is placed the way that we like it looks the way we want it….except the appliances.  Last year around when we got married…just about everything in our kitchen broke at once. In a panic we had to go out and get whatever.  When I was shopping for new appliances we saw the GE Cafe Matte Collection and drooled for hours over the style and functionality.

We went with Stainless but

THAT was before I learned about GE’s new Cafe Matte Collection available at Best Buy. Now I know (not that I’m hoping my appliances will break…but if they did).

Choose your own knobs to make it your own.

There are two main reasons why I love the Cafe Matte Collection

1. The smart features
   1. Cooktop: The Café precision cooking app helps you find recipes with step by step instructions and cooking methods.
   2. Oven: Using a handy app, Café Wi-Fi–connected wall ovens allow you to preheat, change the temperature, and adjust cooking timers from your phone
   3. Dishwasher: The Wi-Fi–connected appliance allow you to monitor cycle times and status.
   4. Refrigerators: Control Café Wi-Fi can heat water from an app so you are ready to make your tea.
2. The Style
   1. Matte Finish: Offered  in Matte White or Matte Black with numerous hardware options it doesn’t get more “in” this for any kitchen.

Honestly I am constantly kicking myself for not waiting and picking this set up when I swapped out of my kitchen appliances.

Available Cafe Matte Collection Appliances

• The Matte White Collection includes:

1. Cooktop: SKU 4208400
2. Double Wall Oven: SKU 6283638
3. French Door Refrigerator: SKU 6286372
4. Dishwasher: SKU 6284425

• The Matte Black Collection includes:

1. Range: SKU 6284213
2. French Door Refrigerator: SKU 6286370
3. Dishwasher: SKU 6284428

mLearn more and configure YOUR perfectly matte kitchen 

Available at Best Buy

A lot of the time the wife and I take protein shakes to work for lunch or breakfast because we are in such a hurry in the morning.  It is usually because I’ll snack on a few hard boiled eggs that we make for prep for the week. So, by friday we usually are all out of eggs and we are taking protein shakes. Now we are fighting over our ProMixx Vortex Mixer.  A bit of a secret, I’m now hiding it at work with the tub of protein that i keep in my desk for any forgotten meals.

What makes this the best?

Photo courtesy of: ProMixx

• You have all the power of a blender with none of the hassle of a blender.
• You never have the manually shake your shake again.
• You can charge it right at your desk via USB
• It’s super easy to clean
• It’s like a party trick for the office…my coworkers we mistified when I brought it in for the first time

Ingredients

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2 tbsp PB powder
• 4 ice cubes
• ¼ cup water

Boom.  

Its a solid meal and great the morning after a good gym session.

This is the perfect holiday gift for anyone you know that carries around a blender ball mixer or has a tub of protein stashed in their desk.

• Order yours at: ProMixx.com
• Available in battery operated and rechargeable (like mine) – $24.94 and up

We received product to facilitate this post. All opinions are strictly our own.

As everyone knows one of my favorite pastimes is cooking (cough, cough as you can see by the name of the blog). Any opportunity to write about cooking I take.  However, I’m a bit of a control freak in the kitchen (ask Allyson as she’s allowed in the kitchen maybe once per month) so taking this opportunity to review Home Chef Meal Kits has an element of “this isn’t my cooking,” and is out of my comfort zone.

We loved the recipe cards that come with each meal.

Home Chef delivers everything you need to bring more delicious meals and moments to the table. Meals starting at $7.99 per serving. You join up, Select the meals you want then just wait for them to come in the mail.  All the meals are relatively easy to cook and should only take about 30 minutes.

Here’s How it All Works

• Go to HomeChef.com and sign up
• Check out the week’s meal offerings – they change weekly
• Choose your dinners – you can mix and match the meals that you LOVE
• Your weekly meals arrive at your door with recipe cards & pre-portioned ingredients
• Cook – most meals are ready in 30 minutes
• Toss the dishes in the dishwasher & relax
• Relax in front of the TV – no grocery shopping again this week…HOORAY

Ben’s Faves

As of right now, I have cooked two of the meals.  And let me tell you, they were good.  The Steak Moutarde and the Chicken Paillard were both solid, easy to make and tasted great.  I’ve even taken to a variation of their Chicken Paillard recipe into my weekly cooking cycle.

Why we LOVE using Home Chef

These are great for days that I don’t want to go to the market or I am running late leaving work.  What’s also great as these are a lot of “one pot/one pan” meals, so cleanup is minimal. There is plenty of variation on the menus, so week after week we would have plenty of variety in our dinners.

The Verdict

Overall, these meals are easy to make, easy when you don’t want to think about when you cook.

• To order Home Chef Meal Kits visit: HomeChef.com

According to the World Health Organization, in the past four decades, obesity around the world has increased threefold. Currently, 2.8 million people die annually due to being obese, with more than 650 million people adults suffering from the disease in 2016. The WHO defines being overweight or obese as having excess fat accumulation that may have negative implications for the health of a person.

There exists a debate on the exact causes of obesity in the medical sphere; it is argued that weight gain is either caused by fat or by carbohydrates. Recent research, discussed in an article by the Harvard School of Public Health, posits that a diet low in fat does not necessarily translate into weight loss while eating a diet high in fat can also lead to a reduction in weight. One could be eating a low-fat diet that is high in carbohydrates, and this may lead to weight gain. However, weight control is not so simple as even eating a small amount of a certain kind of carbs (highly digestible carbs) can also increase weight as these carbs cause hunger levels to shoot up, leading to overeating. Hence, what to eat and what not to eat is a complex question, and seemingly healthy foods that you are eating may also turn out to be the culprit behind your increasing weight. So, if obesity is among the issues that your body faces, here is a list of foods that appear to be healthy but are not.

Sugar-free foods:

Sugar is one of the biggest offenders when it comes to weight gain. Sugars are abundant in easily and swiftly digestible carbohydrates. Intake of sugars causes sudden increases in blood sugar and insulin, leading to a rise in hunger levels as a consequence of which one tends to overeat. Thus, this should mean that sugar-free foods are healthy and help prevent obesity. However, this is not actually true. According to a study, aspartame, one of the most commonly used artificial sweetener, exhibits behavior similar to regular sugars, in that it leads to increased hunger and increased consumption, resulting in weight gain.

Fruit juice:

Fruits contain sugars but are still deemed healthy, as the fiber in the fruits reduces the rate at which the sugar is absorbed and digested. As mentioned above, rapid digestion leads to an increase in hunger, hence slowing down the process of sugar absorption partially prevents weight gain. But in the case of fruit juice, the fiber that is present in the whole fruit is not present, hence the healthy effect of this natural food is offset. In the liquid form, the fruit loses the ability to prevent weight gain and is detrimental for people seeking to lose weight.

Protein bars:

Protein and granola bars are the perfect example of this guy or girl who is blessed with good looks and has a not-so-very-good personality on the inside. Granola and protein bars appear to be among the healthiest of foods. After all, they contain nuts, dried fruits, almonds, and oats, which are nothing but healthy. But these aren’t the only ingredients. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is also one of the ingredients, which, generally perceived as having no relation to weight gain, does actually cause weight gain and results in accumulation of abdominal fat according to research. Also, because these bars are considered healthy, people tend to eat them in excess, which may cause weight gain.

Farmed salmon:

Salmon is thought of as a healthy food and rightly so, for it is a good source of protein and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that help in preventing heart disease. However, this is only true for the wild salmon caught in oceans, seas, and natural lakes. This does not hold true for the salmon that you generally buy from the supermarkets, which comes from fish farms. Farmed fish are given a processed diet, which contains a high amount of protein and fat, aimed at producing fish larger in size. The result of this is that farmed salmon contains almost twice the amount of fat and calories and six times the amount of omega-6 while the amount of omega-3 is the same, leading to a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. According to a study, a high omega-6 to omega-3 ratio can lead to inflammatory diseases, one of which is obesity. This, coupled with high fat, and calorie content makes this evidently healthy food unhealthy and conducive to weight gain.

Gluten-free food:

If you are among those unfortunate ones who are unable to tolerate gluten, you must consume gluten-free food products. Gluten is a protein found in wheat and barley, and hence, gluten-intolerant people cannot consume any of the products made with wheat and barley. These people can consume these products only if they have been treated to lack gluten. For such a person, gluten-free food is considered healthy.

Moreover, you might have noticed the increasing trend of shifting to gluten-free products even among those people who do not have this problem. This is because gluten-free products are thought not to cause weight gain. However, that is false as gluten-free products like gluten-free bread are made from refined grains such as white rice flour which are not only high in their calorie content but are also rapidly digestible, which causes hunger to persist even after having food, thus leading to overeating.

Dealing with obesity:

Medical professionals recommend various ways in which one can deal with obesity. It is understood widely that apart from a high-calorie diet, an inactive lifestyle is the main culprit behind being overweight or obese. The first and foremost thing recommended to people suffering from obesity is eating healthy by reducing calorie intake and increasing protein intake as protein makes you feel full for a less amount of food intake. Secondly, and more obviously, daily exercise is recommended as even if you eat healthily, you can still not possibly reduce your calorie intake, as is evident from the ‘healthy foods’ discussed above. Another option is weight-loss surgery, but this may not be available to many people due to monetary constraints. A highly useful option is taking weight loss tablets, which if taken with a healthy diet and exercise are enormously useful. Weight loss tablets like Orlistat, Alli, and Xenical are readily available treatments that can aid one in their fight against obesity.

Japan is known for many things, and one of these is the amazing diversity of food and dishes that they have. But did you know that the Japanese even have dishes specifically made to quickly recover from injuries? Here are five well-known Japanese dishes for faster injury recovery.

Umeboshi

Umeboshi are Japanese plums, or ume, that are cured in salt and shiso leaves for a few months, and then dried in the sun. This pickled technique gives these plums that salty kick that the Japanese love! Umeboshi is usually eaten with rice as a meal so you will find rice balls filled with an umeboshi for that extra flavor.

Although considered mostly as a Japanese treat, umeboshi is a staple in many Japanese households. These flavorful plums are known to contain a good amount of citric acid, which is known to help the body absorb minerals better. Ume contains the highest concentration of citric acid out of any fruit, and even a tiny one can contain at least two to three times as much citric acid compared to a lemon. Citric acid improves the circulation in the body while boosting the immune system. In addition, citric acid is known to be great at boosting energy, meaning it can aid the body in recovering after exertion by helping break down and flush out lactic acid, which causes physical fatigue.

Green Tea or Matcha

Matcha has become one of the world’s favorite drinks. It is a great alternative to coffee because of its caffeine, but without the side effects that caffeine has. Not only that, it is known to be packed in antioxidants, which helps with aging and chronic diseases, making matcha a powerhouse drink. One matcha cup is equal to ten green teacups, hence why vitamins and minerals you get from drinking just one cup is more than enough to start incorporating this into the daily diet.

The antioxidants in matcha are great at speeding up the recovery process of your body. These antioxidants, or catechin polyphenols, work to reduce inflammation of the body after injuries or intense workout sessions. Because of its ability to do just that, it helps inhibit the production of molecules that contribute to joint damage and inflammation. Not only are they great at getting you back on track, matcha also helps build the immunity of the body, which means more time hustling!

Miso Soup

In every Japanese meal, miso soup is the most common thing you will find. However, not many people know the benefits of miso besides it tasting so good! Miso, or fermented beans, is a protein-rich paste that is used by the Japanese people to put flavor in their dishes. Most Japanese have a cup of miso soup in the morning as this helps digest the food better and energizes the body. Since fermented beans are known to be high in probiotics, miso is great at keeping the gut healthy. There are four known different varieties—shiro, shinsu, aka, and mugi miso—but there could be more depending on the beans.

Miso is abundant in vitamins and minerals, making this a great source of iron, calcium, potassium, B vitamins, and protein. It is also high in amino acids and an excellent source of quality polyunsaturated fats. This means that miso aids in controlling cholesterol in the body and stops cellular degradation, making it a great fighter of cancer and free radicals.

Amaake

Amazake is a traditional Japanese beverage made from fermented rice. It is often sweet and can be taken even by babies. Made from koji fermented rice, amazake contains kojic acid and B vitamins. This makes this sweet beverage a widely known drink for the Japanese that nourishes the skin, hair, and nails. It hits two birds with one stone by improving both the beauty and the health of the person. Because it is fermented, it is high in dietary fiber and contains certain digestive enzymes that aid digestion.

Amazake is also great for weight loss as it contains pantothenic acid, or vitamin B5, which helps break down fat and carbohydrates. High amounts of folic acid are also found in amazake, which is great at boosting the body’s blood cell regeneration and makes it a healthy alternative to fighting anemia.

Konnyaku

One of the more unknown Japanese delicacies, konnyaku is considered as a miracle jelly by the Japanese because of its potency in healthy vitamins and minerals even without much calorie content! Konnyaku is a traditional Japanese jelly-like health food made from a kind of yam called konjac and calcium hydroxide, or oxide calcium, extracted from eggshells. Konjac is a plant native to warm, tropical eastern Asia, which includes China and Indonesia, besides Japan. There are two basic types of konyakku, which are ita-konyakku (gray konyakku) and ito-konyakku (white Konyakku), the latter is then made into shirataki, or white noodles.

Konnyaku is known as an almost zero-calorie food and has no fat content, which makes this a staple for Japanese diets that aid in weight loss. This also leads to it being a great food choice at maintaining good cholesterol levels. Because konnyaku is great at improving the immune system, it makes this jelly-like food another great choice at improving the recovery rate of injuries.

Japanese food has become one of the most beloved food of the world. What more reason can there be to try out Japanese food today?

Food waste is a real problem in our society. With the ease of finding food in shops and restaurants, it can be all too easy to buy too much food for the home and end up throwing it away after a few days. 

If you want to avoid throwing away lots of food again and again and are looking to avoid needing bankruptcy lawyers at any stage of your life, it is important to change your habits for the better and learn to be more food conscious. Today we have some food storage and waste tips which should allow you to save food and money every single day. 

1. Keep potatoes white

When you are preparing dishes such as hashbrowns and roast potatoes in large batches, it is a good idea to ensure that they stay white for longer. There are a few ways you can do this and one of these is to cover with cold water before cooking or storing in the fridge. You can even prepare potatoes by peeling the night before and leave them in a bowl of cold water in the fridge to stay white and fresh! 

2. Slow down rotting

When storing foods such as tomatoes, rotting can be an issue which arises fairly quickly. Usually, fruits like this will last for a few days before one will start to rot, and when one starts the rest will follow. To slow down this process you can store tomatoes stem down and this will keep them from rotting because it prevents air from getting into the stem end of the fruit and allowing moisture inside.

3. Give bananas a longer life

Bananas are like avocados. You can keep them in the kitchen for a week and they’ll be hard and underripe, but then a sudden moment at 3 am will come and they will be perfectly ripe before rotting by the time you notice. To avoid bananas rotting, one thing you can do is cover the stems with foil. The foil will stop hormones spreading from fruit to fruit and will also stop moisture getting inside. This should keep the bananas fresher for much longer.

4. Speed up ripening

If you are looking to speed up the ripening process this summer for a party, a simple way to do this is to place the fruit or vegetable into a paper bag and this will help promote ripening. It means you don’t need to go without guacamole at your next barbecue. 

5. Stop fruit browning

If you enjoy eating fruit salads as a dessert and a lunch during the summer months, one of the things you will have to contend with is the fruit browning too quickly. One clever way to combat this is to squeeze some lemon juice over the fruit once cut, and the acid will block oxygen from coming into contact with the fruit and causing browning.

6. Check your eggs 

 As you may know by now, the date on food isn’t always gospel. When checking food for freshness there is a habit we have of checking the date and throwing food away without a second thought. To avoid wasting eggs, you can use a jug of cold water to test the freshness of the eggs. If the egg sinks, it’s fresh, if it floats, it’s not. Simple! 

Bringing family or friends together through food is one of the oldest (and tastiest) ways to enjoy quality time with good company. There’s a reason people love a themed dinner party. When you’re hosting it, however, it can often be an ordeal to organize and plan a successful dinner party.

Pick a theme 

Hosting a themed party can be just as elaborate or as simple as you want it to be. Choosing the theme is of course, entirely up to you. But you might want to consider some basic things, like who the event is for, or if it is a birthday or celebration what interests do the birthday girl or boy has. With dinner parties mainly tailored towards adults, you might find it harder to get theme ideas and inspiration that don’t feel a little childish. Here are some adult party theme ideas that can give you some inspiration if you are feeling stuck. Feel free to also consider some fun, not so adult themes as it can be a fun way to let loose and to spend a fun evening dressed up as your favorite Harry Potter characters or an animal from Noah’s Ark! 

The Main Course

The main course should always be substantial enough to satisfy your guests, but not so heavy they don’t have room for dessert. A protein-based dish is often the number one choice at dinner parties, often beef, or chicken, as these meats can be prepared a number of ways and are quite easy to work with. A recipe that isn’t time-consuming or laborious doesn’t equate to a boring or flavorless dish. Quite the opposite in fact. Try a quick and simple chicken recipe that isn’t dry or boring, and watch how your guests eat it up and ask for seconds. Saving time on the main course means that you have time to spend perfecting the other parts of the meal that are just as important, but are often overlooked. 

Budgeting

Create a budget and stick to it! You don’t have to go crazy on expensive hors d’oeuvres or buy a huge amount of wine. You can make your own hors d’oeuvres at a fraction of the retail price, which will taste much more authentic and the home-made factor will be highly appreciated by your guests. When going for wine, it makes sense to have a few bottles of good quality wine that your guests will notice and enjoy. The good thing about dinner parties is that guests often bring wine which you can open in the evening and use to supplement your own bottles. Make sure you write a shopping list based on your menu well in advance so you don’t get tempted to pick up extra items when you are in the supermarket. Have a respectable number of guests- usually around eight will be a manageable quantity for one person to cater to. And especially if you want it to be an intimate event after all this is a dinner party, not a ball that you will be throwing. 

Catering is one aspect of the food industry that is highly dynamic and versatile. At any given time, a catering company may have multiple events at different locations. With this type of operation, you regularly interact with a new wait staff, use third-party facilities, and expose your business to a variety of risks. Therefore, a comprehensive insurance plan is always necessary.

Risks associated with running a catering business

At first glance, it is easy to understand why a catering company needs insurance coverage. If you observe how these businesses operate, a single mistake can lead to devastating consequences. Some examples of risks associated with a catering business are the following:

• Accidents involving guests and employees. In an event where everyone is on the move, both staff and guests are vulnerable to accidents. For example, guests could get burned by hot food if you fail to put a warning sign on the buffet table. On the other hand, employees could trip or fall on spills. These incidents could potentially lead to liability claims that comprehensive catering insurance should be able to cover.
• Accident involving a company vehicle. Catering companies need vehicles to transport food, equipment, and staff from one event to another. Should accidents happen while in transit, damages to property, claims for injury, and other expenses could add up.
• Food poisoning. Every caterer knows that an incident of food poisoning will ruin the business. The adverse effects of a single instance are enough to shut down a catering company. As such, insurance is essential to mitigate damage and keep the business afloat.

These are only a few examples of things that could go wrong if you operate a catering business. There is no doubt that the right level of insurance coverage is necessary for protection.

Different types of insurance needed by catering companies

Since a catering company is regularly exposed to a variety of risks, it is vital to have the right coverage. There are different types of insurance you can get for your business. But, the following are most recommended.

1. General liability insurance. This type of insurance should cover claims arising from damage to property, bodily injury, and other related claims when an accident happens during an event and the catering company is found liable. General liability is the most basic coverage that every business should have.
2. Professional liability insurance. Some general liability insurance policies should have some level of professional liability coverage. But in case there are claims that your general liability insurance does not include, it is recommended to have professional liability insurance in case your basic coverage is not sufficient.
3. Business auto insurance. If you maintain a fleet of vehicles, then you need business vehicle insurance in force at all times. Vehicular accidents can endanger employees, third parties, and your business too. If you have auto insurance, you need not worry about out of pocket expenses if anything were to happen while any of your company vehicles are on the road.

Depending on the extent of your operation, you may need additional insurance coverage for specific scenarios. For example, catering equipment getting stolen at a venue will not be covered by your general liability insurance. As such, you need to identify specific needs to ensure that you have sufficient coverage for all types of risks.

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We all like to make sure that we have enough money in the bank, and making sure that we are still eating healthily at the same time is sometimes not the easiest option. And whether you’re a large or small family, having a weekly meal plan that will keep you on track is a great idea. This is something that many people do, and find they have great results from. But everybody has their own likes and dislikes, and some of us have Allergies and intolerances that can cause disruption to our weekly shop as well. So whilst taking all these things into consideration is there anything we can do to make sure that we don’t have to spend too much money on food each week?

Planning ahead

Planning ahead can help you ensure that you have enough products in your cupboards to make a nice meal. Whether you are creating a low calorie dessert recipe or a roast dinner for the family, making sure that you have everything you need in time is essential. Not everybody is organized, which is why there are online resources to help you decide on which meal plan to choose, especially if you have a family who can always eat the same things. Essentially writing out a meal plan, helps ensure that you have plenty of options, and the mental load I’ve decided what’s for dinner every day is reduced. This can be a game-changer and something that many people suggest has improved their lives significantly in the past.

Slow cookers

Having a slow cooker in your kitchen that you can set off before you leave for work in the morning is an idea that many choose. If you know what you are having to eat that evening because of your meal plan, then it will be easy for you to throw it in and have a cooked meal waiting for when you get home. Many people love to use the slow cooker is that the winter, but it doesn’t have to be just the winter. There are dishes and recipes you can use all year round without fail. A nice old-fashioned stew or casserole cooked in the slow cooker really brings out the flavor and can create a wonderful aroma in your home to welcome everybody at the end of the day.

Delivery

Getting your shopping delivered saves a lot of time and effort. Not only that but it saves you money too. It saves you money by not being tempted by the offers and way in which the store is laid out. Of course, these are things you need to consider when shopping online as well, but it is much easier to keep track of, especially if you have a regular slot booked. This coupled with your meal plan is one of the greatest ways to save money, there is no temptation to grab something “quick” on your way home from work if you are organized and have everything in place.

If you’re a budding home chef and you’re looking to expand your horizons a little, one of the best things you can do is try out Asian cooking. There are so many strands of Asian cooking to explore and there’s a big emphasis on fresh and often healthy dishes that are packed with flavor. It could be just what you and your family have been looking for. Here are some tips to help you get it right.

Learn the Art of Meat Marination

First of all, you’ll need to learn about the art of meat marination. When you marinate your meat, you should give it the time it needs. That way, the meat is able to soak up all the flavor; it makes a real difference to the finished dish. It’s used in many different types of Asian cooking, so you should definitely learn how to do it properly.

Understand the Different Types of Rice

There are so many different types of rice in Asian cooking, so one of your first tasks will be to understand the properties and appropriate uses of all of them. It goes far beyond the simple white and brown rice you’re used to. Thai cooking uses a lot of jasmine rice, Indian cooking uses basmati rice quite a lot and then there’s the beautiful Koshihikari Japanese rice.

Discover the Best Brands to Buy

There are lots of great brands that focus on offering fantastic Asian food and ingredients, so make the most of these. Brands like Tai Pei frozen food are really useful when you’re getting started and trying out new recipes. Do some research and see which brands will help most with the kind of Asian cooking you’re looking to do.

Invest in the Right Equipment

Investing in the right equipment will make your life as a home Asian chef so much easier than it might otherwise be, so make sure you get all of the key items you’ll need in order to get started. You’ll need a good wok, bamboo steamers, and wok spatulas. You might also want to invest in a good rice cooker if you’re going to be cooking quite a lot of rice going forward.

Use the Best and Freshest Vegetables

Finally, it’s vital to focus on using great vegetables and, most importantly, vegetables that are fresh. If you can do this, you’ll really start to capture the spirit of Asian cooking, which is all about fresh ingredients and the best vegetables. Don’t accept any less than the best when you’re choosing which vegetables to cook with.

Asian cooking is an art and there’s a lot to learn and get good at. But that’s all part of the challenge and what makes it so fun, so don’t shy away from it. When you get the basics down, you’ll be able to start cooking so many things that you would have had no idea how to cook before.

Of course, having a good social life is so important. After all, friends are essential to put a smile on our face. And with good friends, you are more likely to live a healthy and happy long life. But you need to be careful about your health when you are around your friends. After all, there are times that your friends can cause your health to decline. Therefore, here are some interesting ways your social life can damage your health and what you can do to change it. 

You might end up drinking too much on nights out 

When you are young, you are bound to go out and have a few bevvies with your mates. After all, it’s part of growing up. However, you need to be so careful about how much you are drinking. After all, if you start having boozy sessions a couple of times a week, you could cause significant damage to your liver. And not only this but too much alcohol can cause you to put on weight. Therefore, you need to try and cut back on boozy nights out with friends. Try and think of other things you can do which will be just as fun. After all, if they are real friends, they will be happy to cut back on their drinking sessions to spend quality time with you. And if you do want to go out, just have one or two drinks to protect your health.

You might smoke socially or use e-cigs

It can be easy to make a few mistakes when you are with your mates. After all, we tend to follow what the others are doing. And one of these is smoking. So many people don’t usually smoke, but when they are in a group, they feel like they should socially smoke. And although you might not think you are doing damage to your health, it could be having an impact on your lungs. And not only this, it could cause your blood pressure to rise which can be bad. 

Bad friendships can be bad for your mental health

Although most of us are lucky to have great friends, there are some friendships that are toxic. They expect you to spend all your time with them and they never want to listen to what you have to say. And they can often drag you into their arguments they are having with other people. These types of friendships are draining and can affect our mental health. Difficult times can certainly happen and we may rely on our friends but they must be the right friends. Perhaps you have just heard of a death of a friend and you have visited a wrongful death attorney, you might want a friend to come along with you but it needs to be the right friend that will be helpful to your situation.

Social distancing is something we should all be practicing at this time and although it may seem difficult to do so, it’s important to keep those who we care about deeply still close to us. There are definitely ways to have fun at home, let’s start implementing them.

We really rely on water on a day to day basis. We’re recommended to drink eight glasses every single day. We use it for our cooking. We use it to wash. We use it to clean our teeth. We use it to wash our clothes. We use it to mop our floors, wipe down our work surfaces and complete a whole host of other day-to-day tasks and chores. Often, we really take it for granted. This is understandable. It’s always there at the turn of a tap or flush of a chain. But when water starts to become unavailable in our homes or isn’t running at a quality that’s suitable for reasonable use, you begin to realize how essential it is to our daily routine. An overabundance of water can be a problem too. If a tap won’t turn off, if water starts leaking from a pipe, or our drains fill up and won’t go down, we can experience further inconvenience and difficulties. What can we do about this? Well, the answer is that prevention is better than cure. There are a number of simple steps that you can go through to reduce your chances of experiencing issues with your home’s waterworks. Here are some to work into your life!

Call in a Plumber Early On

Often problems like those listed above tend to occur due to people ignoring small issues and attempting to brush them under the carpet. But this simply results in major problems that can be difficult to rectify and can cause a lot of costly damage to your home. Instead, it’s important that you tackle problems at the first sign of trouble. Call in a plumber or drain service as early on as possible. They’ll be able to come out, take a look at the issue and resolve it quickly and professionally, saving you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Prevent Blockages

There are a number of precautionary steps that you can take to prevent blockages. They’re easy to implement and will prevent pipes from becoming blocked and drains failing to empty. In the shower, if you have long hair, pick it out of the drain rather than allowing it to run down. In the kitchen, scrape food fully from plates before putting them in the sink and washing them. You can also invest in a number of devices that can be placed on top of your drains to stop larger items going down them.

Have Water for Emergencies

It’s a good idea to have water available for emergencies. Maybe just a large bottle of water stored away in a cupboard somewhere. When water supplies stop, it may be a little while until they’re up and running again. Having a backup supply of water can help tide you over.

Hopefully, you won’t experience any problems with the waterworks or plumbing in your home. But taking active steps to prevent problems from arising in the first place should help to further minimize your chances of coming face to face with major issues!

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

The kitchen is my home within my home.  Everything is placed the way that we like it looks the way we want it….except the appliances.  Last year around when we got married…just about everything in our kitchen broke at once. In a panic we had to go out and get whatever.  When I was shopping for new appliances we saw the GE Cafe Matte Collection and drooled for hours over the style and functionality.

We went with Stainless but

THAT was before I learned about GE’s new Cafe Matte Collection available at Best Buy. Now I know (not that I’m hoping my appliances will break…but if they did).

Choose your own knobs to make it your own.

There are two main reasons why I love the Cafe Matte Collection

1. The smart features
   1. Cooktop: The Café precision cooking app helps you find recipes with step by step instructions and cooking methods.
   2. Oven: Using a handy app, Café Wi-Fi–connected wall ovens allow you to preheat, change the temperature, and adjust cooking timers from your phone
   3. Dishwasher: The Wi-Fi–connected appliance allow you to monitor cycle times and status.
   4. Refrigerators: Control Café Wi-Fi can heat water from an app so you are ready to make your tea.
2. The Style
   1. Matte Finish: Offered  in Matte White or Matte Black with numerous hardware options it doesn’t get more “in” this for any kitchen.

Honestly I am constantly kicking myself for not waiting and picking this set up when I swapped out of my kitchen appliances.

Available Cafe Matte Collection Appliances

• The Matte White Collection includes:

1. Cooktop: SKU 4208400
2. Double Wall Oven: SKU 6283638
3. French Door Refrigerator: SKU 6286372
4. Dishwasher: SKU 6284425

• The Matte Black Collection includes:

1. Range: SKU 6284213
2. French Door Refrigerator: SKU 6286370
3. Dishwasher: SKU 6284428

mLearn more and configure YOUR perfectly matte kitchen 

Available at Best Buy

A lot of the time the wife and I take protein shakes to work for lunch or breakfast because we are in such a hurry in the morning.  It is usually because I’ll snack on a few hard boiled eggs that we make for prep for the week. So, by friday we usually are all out of eggs and we are taking protein shakes. Now we are fighting over our ProMixx Vortex Mixer.  A bit of a secret, I’m now hiding it at work with the tub of protein that i keep in my desk for any forgotten meals.

What makes this the best?

Photo courtesy of: ProMixx

• You have all the power of a blender with none of the hassle of a blender.
• You never have the manually shake your shake again.
• You can charge it right at your desk via USB
• It’s super easy to clean
• It’s like a party trick for the office…my coworkers we mistified when I brought it in for the first time

Ingredients

• 1 scoop chocolate protein powder
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 2 tbsp PB powder
• 4 ice cubes
• ¼ cup water

Boom.  

Its a solid meal and great the morning after a good gym session.

This is the perfect holiday gift for anyone you know that carries around a blender ball mixer or has a tub of protein stashed in their desk.

• Order yours at: ProMixx.com
• Available in battery operated and rechargeable (like mine) – $24.94 and up

The life of a professional golfer does not leave much time for cooking, with players jetting off all over the world, often staying in hotels and being catered for by professional chefs unwilling to hand over their kitchens.

However, there are some players who love nothing more than spending their time away from fairways and greens turning themselves into the next Gordon Ramsey or Daniela Soto-Innes.

Here are just some of the players who like to don their apron and get their fingers dirty in the kitchen.

Anyone for a spot of alligator steak?

Rory McIlroy

This Northern Irishman has been setting the PGA and European Tours alight for years. Following in the footsteps of Tiger Woods, he always keeps himself in excellent physical condition, combining exercise with a well-balanced diet, unless he happens to be celebrating having bested PGA Tour title or Major Championship odds, with copious pints of Guinness and a morning fry-up.

McIlroy’s penchant for cuisine became apparent at a tour stop in Turkey where he was challenged to a cooking contest by fellow player Charl Schwartzel. McIlroy’s skills shone through to such an extent that not only did he beat Schwartzel but also won plaudits from a local pro chef.

Marc-Pierre Campos

Campos is perhaps unique in the golfing world for having traded in his clubs, when he retired from playing and coaching on the professional circuit, to open his own restaurant.

The restaurant is based in the English town of Ramsgate, but Campos has drawn on his Portuguese roots to put together a menu that blends fresh fish with other locally sourced produce.

These days Campos tends to only do the front of house, leaving the bulk of the cooking to a head chef, but that doesn’t mean he can’t turn his hand to the hot plate if and when he needs to.

Lucy Li

Of course, it is not just the men who get to have all the fun in the kitchen when the lights go off on the 18^th.

Lucy Li is a California native who holds the record for being the youngest player to ever qualify for the US Open and now plies her trade full-time on the Symetra Tour.

When she’s not sinking eagle putts and holing out from bunkers Li is an avid gamer who’s obsessed with completing every video game she plays no matter how long it takes.

She takes that dedication into her love of cooking, where her favorite recipes to whip up are spicy fried chicken and green curry. Another of her specialties is homemade pizza, which she likes to impress her family and friends with. Not bad for someone who has only just turned 18!

Patrick Reed

Reed consistently ranks among the top 10 golfers in the world and has 8 PGA Tour victories to his name. He also happens to be one of the best putters on the tour, regularly holing monster putts from wherever his approach has landed him.

Away from the sporting action and press conferences, Reed is something of a traditionalist when it comes to his cooking, priding himself on grilling some of the best steaks to be found anywhere on tour. One thing is for sure, people don’t turn down an invite from Reed if he invites them to a cook-out.

These pros are breaking course records before cooking up a storm in the kitchen

Miguel Angel Jimenez

This cigar smoking and snappily dressed throwback of a player is still wowing the galleries on the PGA Tour Champions circuit and has long extolled the virtues of fine wine, great food, and cigars as being the recipe for success in life.

When he’s not smashing 300-yard drives or behind the wheel of one of his supercars, Jimenez likes to fire up a pan and cook some classic garlic prawns, all washed down with a fine bottle of Spanish red.