One of the most popular and delicious Chinese Food dishes is Sweet and Sour Chicken.

This saucy exotic dish usually contains too much processed sugar for our diabetic loved ones to enjoy.

Try making this healthy diabetes friendly version at home. It is easy to make and the ingredients can be found at any grocery store.

Substitute the chicken with tempeh or tofu to make it vegan or vegetarian.

1 lb. boneless chicken breast (tempeh or tofu can be substituted), cubed
2 tbsp. hot pepper oil
1 12 oz can of sliced carrots, drained
1 medium onion sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped

1-8 oz can of mandarin slices or pineapple 8 with NO sugar added. Separate the fruit from the juice and save the juice.

Diabetes friendly Sweet and Sour Sauce:

Remaining juice from can of fruit
1 6 oz can orange or pineapple juice
½ c rice vinegar
2/3 c catsup
1 c artificial sweetening powder
4 tbsp. agar-agar or corn starch
¼ tsp. five spice Chinese seasoning
1/8 tsp. powdered ginger

To Prepare:

Brush the chicken, tempeh or tofu with vegetable oil. Place pieces in a shallow pan and place in a pre-heated oven of 350 degrees. Bake until lightly browned (7-15 minutes) and turn pieces over to brown on the other side. Remove from oven and set aside.

Now its time to prepare the diabetes friendly sweet and sour sauce. Take out a sauce pan and pour in the juice, rice vinegar, catsup, artificial sweetener, Chinese spice powder and the powdered ginger. Turn the stove on low and blend together using a wisk. Let this mixture come to a low simmer.

While waiting for the liquid to simmer ready the agar-agar or corn starch by dissolving it in small amount of warm water. When the liquid simmers add the dissolved agar-agar or cornstarch and wisk until completely blended. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon as the liquid comes to a simmer again, this time it will begin to thicken. Turn off heat and cover.

Take out a large fry pan and heat it on a medium high heat, then add the oil. Add the onions and stir, add the peppers and stir, add the fruit and stir for 3-5 minutes. Add the cubed chicken, tempeh or tofu stir for one minute and add the prepared sweet and sour sauce. Stir all ingredients, cover and simmer on low heat until vegetables are slightly soft.

Serve over brown or white rice.

Image Credit – jarrodlombardo

Other Posts :-

Diabetes Friendly Sweet and Sour Chicken is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. Low Fat Sesame flavoured Noodle Soup with Vegetables

If you’re health conscious like me, you’re always looking for healthy substitutions for the foods you enjoy.

When I went on a search for whole wheat pita bread, I came up empty handed and disappointed.

I decided to take matters into my own hands and learn to make my own whole wheat pita bread.

Here’s a whole wheat pita bread recipe you can use to make this delicious and versatile treat in your own kitchen:

Ingredients

4 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup soy flour
2 teaspoons sugar free maple syrup
2 cups water brought to a boil
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt

Procedure

After bringing the water to a full boil, stir in the sugar free maple syrup slowly allowing it to dissolve completely.

Lightly sprinkle the dried yeast on top of this mixture. Let this mixture set for around 8-12 minutes or until it becomes noticeably frothy.

Add the salt followed by the 5 cups of flour. Use your hands to knead this mixture into a doughy consistency.

Apply flour to a smooth surface for rolling out the freshly prepared dough.

Take a handful of dough and roll into a ball. Lay this on the floured surface and roll the ball out using a rolling pin to a thickness of around 1/8 inch.

Repeat this with the remainder of the dough.

Allow the dough to rise for around 25 minutes. Turn and allow to rise another 25 minutes.

Place in oven and bake at 400 degrees for 7-10 minutes.

Allow to cool by wraping in a soft kitchen towel before serving.

Once you have your basic whole wheat pita bread, you’ll find so many uses for it.

Use it to make healthy pita bread sandwiches, by spreading a variety of sandwich spreads onto your freshly made bread, or dip it into a variety of homemade or store bought dips.

Pita bread tastes wonderful served with garlic roasted hummus, peanut butter, cheese spread, or guacamole.

Slices of pita are a great accompaniment for fresh soups and salads.

To make a healthy pita chips, spray lightly with olive oil and season with spices of your choice.

Bake in a preheated oven until brown and crispy.

Serve your fresh bread with low fat french onion dip.

You’ll love the taste and versatility of homemade whole wheat pita bread and you won’t have to feel guilty when you reach for a second piece!

Image Credit – iLoveButter

Other Posts :-

How to Make Your Own Delicious Whole Wheat Pita Bread is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. Yeast – Bread’s Greatest Little Secret

When dieting, Mexican food can be a forbidden temptation.

Loaded with cheese, sour cream and all sorts of other high-fat goodies, traditional enchiladas are a guaranteed diet buster.

For a healthy alternative, try these tasty vegetable enchiladas.

They are loaded with veggies and the reduced fat cheese and sour cream significantly reduce the calorie count without sacrificing taste.

Ingredients:-

1 Tomato (Roma works best, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand.)
1 small yellow onion
½ Cup frozen sweet corn
1 small green pepper (red, yellow or orange can also be substituted)
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 Cup of grated reduced fat (or non-fat) cheddar cheese
½ Cup reduced fat (or non-fat) sour cream
1 teaspoon Taco seasoning
Dash or two of Tabasco
4 Large burrito size tortillas (Make sure to purchase a variety without unnecessary trans or saturated fat. If you can find whole wheat or whole grain tortilla shells, they can help add some extra fiber to the dish.)
½ jar of salsa

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9”x13” baking dish lightly with cooking spray.

Finely dice up the onion, tomato and pepper. Mix in the corn, cover and cook all the vegetables together in a microwave safe bowl for 3 minutes.

Stir in the black beans, re-cover and microwave for an additional minute.

In a separate bowl, mix the sour cream, cheddar cheese, taco seasoning and Tabasco together.

Stir the vegetables into the cheese mixture. Add pepper and a little bit of salt to taste, if you like.

Spoon one fourth of the filling mixture into the center of each tortilla. Fold up bottom and top ends of the tortilla and roll up like an enchilada.

Spoon a liberal amount of salsa over the top of each enchilada. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until bubbly around the edges. Enjoy!

Pair with a vegetable or fruit salad for a tasty, well-rounded meal.

These vegetable enchiladas can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated overnight prior to baking them.

If you have leftovers, don’t worry! They also make a great leftover lunch the next day.

Image Credit – ozmafan

Other Posts :-

Healthy Vegetable Enchiladas is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. Diabetes Friendly Sweet and Sour Chicken

President Truman, Winston Churchill and Marilyn Monroe were all reputedly truffle lovers and the ancient Romans and Greeks considered truffles to be an aphrodisiac as well as have healing powers. The 18th century French politician Brillat-Savarin described truffles as “the diamond of the kitchen” and the poet Lord Byron consumed them for inspiration. And as everyone knows, truffles are not cheap – in 2009, a truffle weighing just over one and a half pounds sold for $150,000. But just what is it about these tiny mushrooms which are usually found in the middle of the night by a pig or a dog, that makes them so highly sought after and valuable?

Throughout history, food and drink that is scarce or difficult to grow or harvest has been regarded as prestigious or valuable – a rare vintage of wine, caviar or Japanese Kobe beef. One of the reasons truffles are so expensive is that they are difficult to find and only grow in certain places. Truffles grow underground close to the roots of several different types of tree, including the oak, pine, poplar and beech and also prefer soil that is well drained. They can be found in parts of northern Italy, central France and various other parts of Europe and Asia, as well as in the Pacific Northwest. The prized black truffle is found almost exclusively in parts of southern France and Spain, while the even more valuable white truffle is only found in the Perigord region of France.

Truffles haven’t always been the rare and precious delicacy that they are today. French farmers and peasants enjoyed them regularly during the 18th century – despite the fact that the same truffles were fetching high prices in Paris food markets, where they were perceived to be an occasional and lavish treat. Louis the XIV also declared his fondness for truffles and they became popular among the noble classes of the time, as both their flavor and aroma were considered to be exotic.

Truffles were also cultivated in rural France during the 19th century, although the combined effects of growing industrialization and the First World War meant that they became almost impossible to produce and consequently far more expensive. Today, despite various experiments, no effective way has been found to cultivate them in large amounts; authentic truffles are still found by specially trained pigs or dogs, only adding to the allure and making the whole process expensive and labor-intensive. This cost is then passed on to the consumer – truffles from Europe typically sell in the United States for between $1,000 and $2,000 per pound.

However, truffles aren’t just revered due to their scarcity; they also have a wonderful and unique taste that has contributed to their popularity and reputation. It’s fair to say that truffles don’t taste quite like any other food, although they do have a rich earthy and garlicky aroma to them and a flavor more delicate than their appearance would suggest. Truffles are perhaps an acquired taste – although once you have acquired it, you can enjoy one of the world’s most sought after and celebrated foods.

Image Credit – rdesai

Other Posts :-

The Appeal of Truffles is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

No Related Posts.

Hello culinary creators. It’s time once again to delve into the easy and fun world of food.

This latest creation is a favorite of the Hawaiian Islands, Spam musubi.

An offshoot of the Japanese snack onigiri, it is made of rice and cooked Spam wrapped in seaweed, similar to, but not technically sushi.

Now a lot of you may think of Spam as nasty “mystery meat”, but fear not, this recipe’s preparation of it changes the flavor in a mouth watering way.

Easy to make, this will soon become a favorite of your home as well.

Ingredients:-

1 ¾ cups soy sauce
½ cup sugar
1 small grated ginger
2 to 3 stalks of green onion (chopped thin)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 can Spam
2 cups steamed jasmine rice
1 package of nori seaweed sheets

In a bowl, mix 1 ½ cups of the soy sauce with the sugar, adding a little sugar at a time and tasting with your finger until you get a flavor you like.

More sugar will make it sweeter, less will keep it salty. Add the ginger, green onions and garlic. Mix well.

Cut the Spam into 8 slices, soak them in the soy mixture for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Coat a frying pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place the Spam in the pan and spray the tops. Cook 5 minutes on each side on medium high heat. Set aside.

Press the rice evenly over the bottom of a 9×13 inch baking pan.

Evenly space the Spam slices over the rice. Using a knife cut the rice into rectangles creating beds of rice with Spam slices on top.

Place the nori sheets on a flat surface and use the remaining soy sauce to soften and flavor, rubbing it gently over one side of the nori with your finger.

Lift the rice beds out with a spatula (or use your fingers if you prefer) and place each in the middle of a nori sheet.

Wrap the Spam and rice up with the nori.

Enjoy.

Image Credit – SauceSupreme

Other Posts :-

Hawaiian Spam Musubi Recipe is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. Diabetes Friendly Sweet and Sour Chicken

Baking Soda is not just for baking anymore.

Baking Soda can be used all around the house to clean and deodorize.

Baking Soda or sodium bicarbonate is a natural and economical approach to cleaning.

Because it is all natural it can safely replace harmful cleaners around your home.

Baking soda can be used as a drain cleaner and deodorizer by putting ¼ cup of baking soda and ½ cup of white vinegar in the kitchen or bathroom drain.

Let the mixture bubble for thirty seconds and then pour ½ cup of warm water in the drain.

Let it stand for 10-15 minutes then run cold water down the drain for 10 seconds.

To keep your drains deodorized and minimize clogs repeat this process every 3-4 weeks.

Household cleansers can become quite costly while an inexpensive box of baking soda can clean plastic and stainless steel surfaces, tile and porcelain.

Baking soda will not scratch or leave behind harmful residue like other products.

Sprinkle baking soda on the surface and with a wet cloth or sponge scrub and rinse.

That’s all it takes to get the job done. It’s even safe for cleaning baby toys and high chairs.

Have an inside cat? Add baking soda to the litter box help keep the odors away.

Getting rid of the urine smell from your cats little accidents on the carpet is a very hard task. Mix lemon essential oil with baking soda and the smell is gone.

Baking soda is great for personal hygiene.

Add it with your toothpaste for a whiter smile.

You can also use it in place of toothpaste.

Put a little on your toothbrush or the end of your finger and rub against your teeth.

It helps remove stains and food and it freshens your breath.

It’s also great for dentures. Make a paste from baking soda and warm water and clean as usual. For overnight soaking, use one part baking soda and four parts water. Rinse in warm water the next morning.

You can also make your own deodorant by adding a ¼ cup of baking soda for odor, ¼ cup of baby powder for a pleasant scent and 1/16 cup of corn starch for dryness. Mix the ingredients, put it into an old baby powder container and sprinkle it on.

Are you looking for an inexpensive hand and facial cleaner?

Create a paste of three parts water to one part baking soda and scrub away paint, grease or bad odors like garlic from your hands. Use the same mixture to exfoliate and soften your face.

You can also use baking soda in the tub to help relieve stress and soften your skin. Add ¼ to ½ cups to you bath and relax. While in the tub, add baking soda to your shampoo to help remove built up residue in your hair from shampoos and conditioners.

Baking Soda is also useful in the laundry room.

Replace your usual fabric softener by adding a ½ cup of baking soda to the rinse cycle. It acts as a natural softener and is gentler for those with skin sensitivities to chemicals. This will also remove tough odors from your clothing.

Add baking soda with your normal detergent to get your whites whiter and everything else brighter. It can also be used to clean the inside of your machine when things like bubble gum and candy accidentally get washed. By using baking soda and a plastic tool you can gently clean all the little accidents out of your machine.

Baking Soda is an absolute asset in the kitchen.

Keep a box by your stove in case of a cooking fire. Just throw the baking soda at the base of the fire.

You can also use it as a fruit cleaner. Sprinkle it on the fruit skin and then with damp fingers rub and rinse.

Do you have acid indigestion and heart burn?

You can naturally neutralize painful stomach acids by adding ½ teaspoon of baking soda to an 8-ounce glass of water. Stir completely and drink.

It is important not to use this when your stomach is overly full. This should also not be used by anyone on a sodium-restricted diet.

Baking soda is one of the most versatile items we can stock in the pantry.

Whether you use it to bake, clean or for one of the many other purposes it is sure to get the job done without costing you a fortune.

Other Posts -

Baking Soda – It Is Not Just for Baking Anymore is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

No Related Posts.

Lots of meat eaters go into a mild panic on finding out that one of the people they’ve invited over for dinner is that strange creature, the vegetarian. But panic no more, this article tells you all you need to know.

First of all, let’s define the term “vegetarian”. A vegetarian is a person who has chosen not to eat meat or fish, or derivatives thereof, or to wear materials such as fur and leather that come from an animal origin. Vegetarians DO eat dairy products and eggs. A good way to think about it is that if the animal (including fish) from which the product is derived had to be killed to get it, then a vegetarian won’t eat it.

Confusingly for meat eaters, there are some variations on this basic theme. Vegans do not eat any product derived from animal origin at all, including eggs and dairy. Ovo-vegetarians will not eat eggs. The water is further muddied by the vegetarian’s motivation for choosing such a diet; someone who is vegetarian for moral reasons is likely to be very strict about what they eat, whereas someone avoiding meat for health reasons may be happy to eat products like gelatine that are derived from animal origins.

Absolutely the easiest way to cut straight through the confusion is to simply ask your vegetarian friend what he or she does or does not eat. This avoids any embarrassment caused by serving something inappropriate and shows your friend that you really care about their dietary choice.

The next thing to do is decide whether or not you want to cook one meal for everyone to eat or a separate dish for the vegetarian. This is a personal choice that will depend as much on the mix of people you’ve invited to your dinner party as on your confidence as a cook. Regardless of which route you take, planning and cooking your vegetarian dish is no more complicated than planning and cooking a meat dish.

The main problem for meat eaters is replacing the meat part of the meal with a suitable alternative source of protein. There are, in fact, lots available, from proprietary brands of readymade burgers, fillets etc to more basic stables like tofu and lentils. All are really easy to cook. Any recipe that contains meat can be adapted to be vegetarian simply by using one of these alternative sources of protein. Use lentils or soya mince instead of meat mince in chilli-con-carne, spaghetti bolognaise etc, use tofu or lentils in curries, chopped mixed vegetables bound with egg and a bit of cheese for burgers and rissoles.

Nut roasts are easy to make and there are lots of recipes available in cookbooks and on the internet, or if all else fails, just buy one at the store and serve with the usual accompaniments to a roast dinner; just remember to make vegetarian gravy! If you decide to use any readymade sauces or similar in your dish, remember to check the list of ingredients for hidden animal products. Gelatine is the main one to look out for, but there are others. If in doubt, only buy products that are labelled as vegetarian.

It is often the case that when you decide to serve vegetarian food to the whole party the meat eaters really appreciate having something a little bit different on their plate, and your vegetarian friend will certainly appreciate the effort you’ve gone to.

So don’t panic; cooking for vegetarians is actually quite easy.

Other Posts :-

Cooking for Vegetarian Friends is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. How to Start a Successful Vegetarian Cooking Club

Christmas desserts are part of an age-old tradition that has different regional variants.

Classic Chrismas desserts include spiced pumpkin, sweet potato, pecan and apple pies and puddings such as traditional plum, custard and bread.

Statistics show the week before Christmas as having the most requested holiday desserts and sweets.

It’s no surprise that the most popular desserts during the Thanksgiving holidays are pies.

Even though pies are still a big part of the Christmas holiday, decadent desserts like White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Recipe, Pumpkin Cheesecake and Kahlua Tiramisu make up some of the highest numbers.

Everybody enjoys baking during the Christmas holidays season.

It is a part of the tradition of family that surrounds the occasion.

But, it can seem as if we are spending more time in the kitchen preparing for family than we actually get to spend with them.

Change up your program with a few Christmas desserts that don’t require any baking.

An interesting holiday dessert is pretzel salad.

You may be thinking about a bunch of greens with crushed pretzels sprinkled about.

We are discussing desserts so it will be sweet in some capacity.

The pretzels in pretzel salad actually make up the crust. There are no greens to speak of, but yummy Jell-O and whipped topping.

Cheesecake is a Christmas treat that can be dressed up in any way that the baker sees fit.

For years there have been cheesecake recipes that do not call for hours of prep and baking.

These are called icebox recipes.

They rely on the refrigerator to set the cheesecake which contains pudding.

Look for an icebox cheesecake recipe to present to your family this Christmas.

Decorate the top with their favorite fruits, nuts, and candies.

Cheesecake works well as an after dinner dessert or a dessert for a Christmas party.

Keep it in the refrigerator until ready to serve so it doesn’t lose its shape.

Some candy, like Divinity, doesn’t require any baking time to prepare.

These scrumptious little dreams have been hanging around during the Yuletide season for many years.

Whip up a batch and refrigerate them to set.

Bonbons are another no bake dessert that is easy to make.

All you have to do is decide on the flavor of the bonbons.

Create a few different kinds.

Kids love variety.

How about ice cream?

Christmas does occur during the winter months but you can’t have pie, cake, and cookies without some ice cream for that a la mode touch.

It would be easy to pop into the grocery store and pick up gallon or two but the family wouldn’t get to participate in the creative process.

Instead, get the chilly sweet treat the traditional way – make your own.

You can purchase an ice cream maker at most mega stores like Wal-Mart and Target.

Kitchen stores also carry ice cream makers.

Mix up a batch of festive holiday ice cream for the family to try.

Occasionally, life calls for ease.

Around the holidays that “ease” comes in the form of no bake desserts.

They’ll think you were in the kitchen all day but we’ll know the truth.

Related Cooking Baking Recipe Posts :-

No Baking Christmas Desserts is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. Chocolate Christmas Desserts
2. Christmas Bread Ideas
3. Baking Christmas Pies

While struggling to balance lectures, assignments, parties, and more, most college students don’t have the time, patience, or even skill to cook for themselves.

A good cookbook for a college kid should be one that offers fast and easy meals for the amateur cook.

Most importantly, the food should be simple fare, with basic ingredients that are easy on the cash-strapped college student’s budget.

Keep this in mind when shopping for a cookbook for your college student for Christmas.

Some great new cookbooks for college students include:-

Rachel Ray’s Book of 10: More Than 300 Recipes to Cook Every Day, by Rachel Ray
$ 11.70 (Amazon, Paperback)

Celebrity chef Rachel Ray is known for her 30-minute meals. In her latest book, Ray has reproduced the top ten most requested recipes from friends and family.

From “10 Figure-Friendly Fave” burgers to “Seafood for a Steal,” Ray knows exactly what’s important to college kids – cheap, fast, easy, and healthy! Whether your college student is an experienced cook or just finding his way around the kitchen, you won’t go far wrong with Rachel Ray’s latest.

Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever with More Than 400 Easy To Make Recipes, by Diane Phillips
$ 16.47 (Amazon, Paperback)

Your college student will be tired after a long, active day filled with lectures, tutorials, and perhaps a trip to the gym.

Faced with the choice of cooking a healthy, nutritious meal, even if it only takes thirty minutes, and picking up the phone and calling the nearest pizza place, it isn’t hard to imagine which one your college kid will pick.

Try Diane Phillip’s book of slow cooker recipes to encourage your child to cook.

A bit of preparation in the morning will be rewarded with a hot, healthy meal.

After a few nights of her recipes, your college kid will be a converted cook.

The Healthy College Cookbook, by Alexandra Nimetz et al.
$ 10.17 (Amazon, Paperback)

Recognizing that most college kid cooks will be novices in the kitchen, The Healthy College Cookbook includes a chapter on kitchen essentials for the starter cook.

From the necessary cookware and ingredients to basic cooking terms, the book takes new college cooks through their first days in the kitchen.

The book also offers quick tips, including how to de-odorize the kitchen.

Containing recipes for everything from soup to nuts, this book makes a great Christmas present for your first-time college cook.

Christmas Gifts 2009 – Great New Cookbooks for College Students is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. No Baking Christmas Desserts
2. Rachel Ray’s Top Ten

Christmas holidays bring with them an excuse to bake up a storm.

We love to cook on Thanksgiving, but baking traditions belong to Christmas.

Here are some ideas for bread ideas to showcase during the Christmas holidays.

We are not speaking about sourdough, rye, and pumpernickel here.

These are dessert breads that can be covered in melted butter, liqueur-filled creams, and fruit compotes.

Think, instead of zucchini bread, banana nut, apple cinnamon, and blueberry breads.

Sweet breads can be enjoyed for a quick breakfast before going out to choose the perfect Christmas tree.

Slice a piece, pop it in the microwave, and there you have it, folks.

Sweet breads are also an alternative to more traditional desserts after dinner.

They contain just the right amount of sweetness to satisfy the palate but not so syrupy sweet that you feel sick.

Kids like syrupy sweet, but many older people do not.

Muffins also fall into the holiday bread category.

They are easy to carry and you get to make a bunch of them at one time.

Get the kids to help with the prep.

They can choose the ingredients for those holiday muffins.

Add some chopped nuts and cinnamon. Or, fill the muffins with a pudding center and sprinkle with holiday colored sugar.

It wouldn’t be a christmas holiday unless we mentioned fruitcake.

I know the name says “cake” but this is more of bread than a cake.

It is baked in a loaf pan and can survive a nuclear winter.

That doesn’t sound much like a cake.

Fruitcakes are a big christmas tradition in many parts of the world.

During the crusades, soldiers would carry fruitcake for food because it would keep for a long time.

They could eat on it and eat on it without worrying about spoilage.

Companies, who make traditional fruitcakes, start early in the year creating their fare to ship far and wide.

But, the family can create their own fruitcake recipe.

Use your favorite nuts, dried fruits, and candies.

Bake the fruitcake that contains the items that you fancy.

Bake more than one, though.

It was thought to be good luck to wrap up and save one for the next year.

Bread baking is a tradition where everyone can participate.

Put one person on muffins, one on loaf breads, and the most accomplished baker can create the family fruitcake.

Christmas holidays are for experimenting with food so create something new and let the family be the judge of its goodness.

Image Credit – regeniabrabham

Christmas Bread Ideas is a post from: Cooking Baking Recipe

Related Posts:

1. Baking Christmas Pies
2. No Baking Christmas Desserts
3. Chocolate Christmas Desserts