FOOD AND NUTRITION

Free Soul Food Recipe Sites Appealing More To Health ConsciousConsumers

2009-10-20T01:24:00.000-07:00

Author: Roy Primm

Free soul food recipe websites are slowly appealing to a youngercrowd. This new market is not only younger but more healthconscious than traditional southern food lovers of the past. Theyounger crowd loves the taste and satisfaction of traditionalsouthern dishes, but without the heavy feeling afterwards. Thisresults from the heavy ingredients and often the cooking oilscontained in traditional soul food recipes.To adapt to the taste and demands of younger consumers morerecipe publishers, dining establishments and manufacturers arecooking lighter. For example, many now include lighteringredients in their menus and recipes. For example, most havechange from cooking with animal fats to peanut, olive, andsesame oils. Less red meat and pork dishes are served in soulfood restaurants and more chicken, turkey and cold water fishsuch as salmon, cod and haddock have been added to the menu.To flavor the dishes, healthier and lighter sauces is offeredalong with natural herbs and spices. Most free soul food recipewebsites, cookbooks and restaurants continue to phase outtraditional flavorings such as ham hocks, fatback and bacondrippings. These seasonings don't have the same appeal to theyounger health conscious consumer as it does to the older crowd.These changes continue to help bring back many older consumersas well, those who had to avoid eating soul food cooking forhealth reasons. Much of the traditional southern cookingcontained high amounts of sodium, calories and fat. This oftencaused high blood pressure, obesity and other health ailments.Now that more soul food recipes have included the desires anddemands of the health conscious crowd, the southern cuisinecontinues to experience a strong comeback. New phrases have evenemerged to describe this new movement and have spawned a wholenew market. Healthy soul food has come to describe southerncuisine with healthy ingredients, cooking methods or even rawfood dining. For example, you'll find more green vegetables, rawfruits and bean dishes included in the menus than ever before.Of course you'll also find all natural herbs and spices as wellas citrus marinades to add flavor to chicken, fish or otherlight and lean meats.Vegetarian soul food is also a new kid on the block that'sappealing to the young, hip (and young at heart) and healthconscious crowd. These meat-less southern inspired dishescontinues to win new fans, the evidence is the large numbers ofbooks published and new restaurant openings. There's even talkof many of these restaurants planning to franchise in the nearfuture.About the author:See The Top 20 Soul Food Recipes Voted By Readers Go To ... http://blackhomeownernews.com/soulfoodrecipes.html">FreeSoul Food Recipes

The Top Four Favourite Soups

2009-10-16T04:26:00.000-07:00

Author: Steve Hill

I was listening, with interest, to a well known radio program
last night as they were debating the nations favourite soups –
yes I am rather pathetic and yes I do need to get a life! The
presenter of the show invited members of the public to
telephone, text and e-mail into the program as they conducted a
mini survey of people’s preferred soup! I was tempted to phone
in myself but for whatever reason decided against it.

It was actually a really interesting program to listen to and I
was quite surprised at the amount of people that did phone into
the show. In reality all of the people could well have been the
friends and family of the presenter himself but I would hope not.

You may not be surprised when you hear that chicken soup was
voted as the overall winner or nations favourite. Chicken soup
happens to be my favourite as well; I eat a bowl at least twice
a week!

In second place came tomato soup. Apparently there was not a lot
between these first two, only about five percent of the votes. I
am not sure what it is about tomato soup but I just don’t rate
it. I can eat a few spoonfuls but then the taste just seems to
bore me.

Oxtail soup came in a surprisingly impressive third place and in
fourth place came vegetable soup.

So what was the point of this article and the radio show of last
night? Well at the end of the day it is just a bit of fun and
something to potentially spark a debate between friends and
colleagues.

About the author:
Steve Hill is a webmaster from Birmingham; he has interests in a
number of websites including: stuttering
therapy web promotion UK increase
confidence

Simple Soup Maker's Kitchen

2009-10-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Author: Cary Ellis

Let's solve this mystery once and for all. Don't let those
gourmets fool you. It really doesn't take a lot of fancy
cookware or specialty items to make soup. In fact soup is ideal
everyday fare, simple to make, and accessible to ANY budget.
Have you ever heard of Stone Soup? It's a wonderful story that
tells how simple soup really is. In fact soup evolved as a
catch-all for leftover bits of this and that. Now you can get
pretty fancy if you want to with soup - but we're going to stick
to the simple stuff here - everyday fare for everyday folks.

Pots and Pans You could get away with just one good sized soup
pot (6-8 quart). Of course stainless steel is best or even cast
iron will do. You want to stay away from pans containing
aluminum or teflon as they've been associated with the
development of Alzheimers and other brain disorders. I'd say the
full extent of pots I use for soup includes a small pot (2
quart) for quick noodle soups or a roux, a medium pot 4 1/2
quart, and a large pot 6 quart - depending on who's coming to
dinner, how much my ingredients will swell, and if I'm cooking
for a week or a day; a skillet for sautéing (but you could do it
right in the pot and keep all the yummy flavors in one place).

A crock pot is great to have for those long winter days if you
have to go to work or go ski or "board the rad pow", and want to
have a pot of soup when you get home. I've broken crock pots and
readily picked up a new one at the thrift store! So budget
shouldn't be a limiting factor here...after all, it's reuse
before recycle, right?

Cutting Gear Have you ever noticed, you can have a drawer full
of knives, but you always grab that favorite one? All the years
I've been food preparing and cooking (and it's been many) I
still have my favorite knife that has gone with me everywhere.
You need something good to cut veggies without it being too much
work. It may be a paring knife for you or something bigger. Just
always be very careful and use a knife you're comfortable with.
I have one paring knife I like, on medium serrated, and a large
that I adore (family heirloom) that I always have to watch my
fingers with and pay attention, but I love how it cuts up my
veggies for soup and salads.

Bottom line - use a knife you like, sharpen now and then, pay
close attention when cutting!

Refrigerator - Produce We are so lucky to have refrigeration,
provides many options for keeping and enjoying a wide variety of
produce. The baseline of my soups always begin with the many
varieties of onions, potatoes, garlic, ginger and carrots. Some
of these may not need to be refrigerated based on your climate
and home temperature. See how they are stored at the market and
do something similar.

Among the greens I always bring home cilantro, parsley and
spinach; I love having them in something every day. Beyond these
basics you can get into the fancier veggies such as mushrooms,
kale, collards, squash, cabbages (several kinds), tomatoes,
parsnips, turnips, beets...and more...

Pantry - Grains, Beans, Pasta, Herbs, Oil, Spices In your pantry
keep a supply of the Super Immunity herbs and spices you like
best. I order mine by the pound through my local co-op - you'll
have to figure out your best resources and use those. Most
health food stores have a good bulk herb and spices section
(fresher and better on cost/environment than small jars).

Get yourself a supply of beans and grains you like. Rice, quinoa
and amaranth are some of my favorite grains to add to soup. I've
found most dry beans even at the supermarket will sprout when
soaked, so you can use those, or go to the natural food store
and get organic (better for you and the Earth). Lentils, black
beans (same benefits as red wine), and pintos are some of our
favorites around here; we always soak at least 12 hours to start
the sprouting process, drain the water (important), then add
fresh water and cook 6-8 hrs to make a great soup, with greatly
reduced digestive stress.

Keep some noodles in your pantry - rice noodles are a nice way
to stay away from wheat which many people are allergic to
(because there's so much of it in our culture). But find
whatever you like among the smaller sized pastas, and keep them
around for quick soups. Even the ramen packets without msg, can
be used as a base and add fresh veggies, for healthy 'fast
food'.

Olive oil and natural soy sauce will get you started on a good
soup base and you can expand your seasonings from there as you
learn about additional ingredients such as miso and Umeboshi
plum vinegar.

Well, if you start out by stocking your kitchen as described
above, you'll be well-prepared to make yourself quite a few pots
of soup. Now take action, keep learning, discover what you like,
and feed yourself and those you love in a way that protects
their health and immunity.

About the author:
Cary Ellis, healthy diet and lifestyle expert is author of
“Vegan/Vegetarian Super Immunity™ Soup Recipes”. Follow regular
health tips at her healthy
diet blog and find her free soup recipes and videos at her
healthy lifestyle site

Learn to cook a Restaurant Standard Soup. It is very easy to

2009-10-16T01:04:00.000-07:00

Author: sarah

Here are some important tips that might help you to cook thebest soup with any soup recipes. 1). To make soup 1-2 days in advance to blend the flavour. 2).Reserve the vegetable cooking water and to be used in place ofplain water to get the better soup flavour. 3). Shin, marrow,neck and oxtail bones are best for stock flavoring. 4). Vealknuckles are best for making jellied stocks. 5). Add morebouillon cubes or powder as strengthener if you prefer a strong& thicker soul. 6). Cool soup uncovered as quickly as possibleby placing pot in a sink of iced water. 7). Cold soups dull thetastebuds and normally required more seasonings than hot soup.Taste and adjust before serving. 8). Use lesser salt If usingbeer or wine in the soup 9). If wine to be added to soup, itshall be add shortly before serve but not to let it boil for toolong. 10). Excess wine will make soup bitter. 1/4-1/3 cup perquart is plenty. 11). While reducing or boiling down a soupstock, do not add salt until the end. 12). If you don't like thesoup to be too salty, add half a peeled raw potato and simmerfor about 15 minutes. The potato will absorb excess salt.Discard potato after reach your desired taste. 13). If your souprequires a thickening agent, you can sprinkle some flour on topof your vegetables/meat mixture. For every tablespoon of fat youalready added, add an equivalent 1 tablespoon of flour. Sautefor a few minutes. 14). 1 teaspoon of sugar or light brown sugarwill mellow the acidity of tomato soup. 15). You can thickeningthe cream of vegetable soup by pureeing some of the vegetableswith a bit of the liquid. 16). Add your liquid to your pot suchas broth/water + bullion cubes or canned tomatoes (if yourrecipe requires some cream we prefer to add that later). If youare planning to blend your soup, it might be a good idea to beslightly conservative with the amount of liquid you add.Remember, it's always easier to add additional liquid then it isto take away. Let your soup simmer long enough to soften all theingredients. 17). Add herbs at the end to preserve the mostflavor. 18). Generally, 1 quart of soup = 6 first coarseservings or 3-4 main course serving. 19). Use soup tureen whileserving soup as main course to lend elegance to the table andkeep hot for seconds. 20). Match a light-flavored soup to a richor spicy main dish and vice versa.For further understanding, you can visit my soup recipes websiteat http://www.soup-master.com/ About the author:I have create a Soup Recipes website to share with soup lovers. Most soups are constructed in similar ways using the sametechnique. Once you've mastered this step process, it's easy toexperiment and try different kinds of soup.

Why Buy Organic? Beyond the Health Benefits

2009-10-16T00:45:00.001-07:00

Author: Chef Marty Rich

People have heard that organic food is better for them becauseit contains more vitamins and minerals and fewer chemicals thantraditional food; however, when people buy organic they don'tthink about the side benefits of their purchase such as theirpositive effect on the environment. Additionally, organicproducts put fewer pesticides, fertilizers and other dangerouschemicals into the environment which means they benefit yourfamily, as well as other families now and in the future.Organic farms also have better soil quality on organic farms,compared with soil on traditional farms, which proves it a majorbenefit of reducing chemical use in agriculture. Organic farmingworks to build the soil naturally through companion planting andcrop rotations, another great reason to buy organic. Bycomparison, traditional agriculture uses fertilizers to enhancesoil which fixes the immediate problem but doesn't repair theactual problem, nutrient deficient soil.Where do all the chemicals used by farmers go? Unfortunately,water from rain and irrigation runs off into lakes, rivers andstreams, taking all the chemicals used to farm the land with it.This water also seeps deep into the soil and enters undergroundwater supplies. Sadly, even if you buy organic food, chemicalsused in traditional farming could be infiltrating your localwater supply and, while many places control the amount of thesechemicals, others can't. In many rural areas, the only availablewater comes directly from the ground, modern filtration notincluded.Pesticides also adversely affect wildlife in farming areasbecause if you kill off all the bugs, the birds have nothing toeat. If animals survive with chemicals in their systems, theycan poison larger animals that eat them. One of the manynegatives of pesticides is that they kill good insects and badalike, which in turn kills beneficial wildlife.Possibly traditional agriculture's worst sin, and the mostharmful practice, bar none, is planting the same crop year afteryear because it can, and often does, make plants moresusceptible to pests while depleting the soil, thus increasingthe need for pesticides and fertilizers. To keep the soil fromwashing away, new soil requires more fertilizers so plants willgrow. Unfortunately, traditional farmers are not trying toreduce their use of chemicals. In many cases they are simplytrying to keep the family farm.In addition to the benefits of chemical-free agriculture,organic farmers work with the environment as a system. Theypromote conservation of water and soil and strive to maintainthe land so future generations can work, and benefit from, theland as well.About the author:Have Knives, Will Travel. This is the basis of my culinaryexperience. I love to move from place to place and cookinteresting foods, with interesting people. I like to teachculinary basics to people who find cooking challenging and alsoteach chefs how to find jobs if they want to make their careersmore exciting by traveling. Ultimately, I want to do both as Icontinue traveling around the country/world.http://www.chefmartyrich.com/

Organic Foods don't Taste Bad!

2009-10-16T00:39:00.000-07:00

Author: Sarmaad Amin

Many people have the false belief that organic foods don't tastegood. However, they have never even tried them! It isn't reallyknown where such ideas come from but they continue to heavilycirculate. Organic foods aren't grown with any types ofchemicals so they are better for you overall. Why would you wantto take in items that your body can't benefit from?Organic foods are often said to be tasteless or that they tastelike cardboard. The fact that they aren't made with chemicals ortreated with preservatives doesn't reduce the overall flavoring of them. Infact, most organically grown foods taste just the same as thosethat are grown in a traditional manner. Some experts believethat traditional growers are worried about losing money toorganic products. Therefore they have a role in keeping suchrumors alive.It could have to do with the visual appearance of organic foods.To many people, the look of a type of food is going to directlyinfluence if they think they will like it or not. Organic foodscan be smaller or different in shape then those which are grownwith chemical fertilizers. Yet the smaller size or even theslightly different shape doesn't make them taste worse.One thing that you do need to realize though is that organicfruits and vegetables can rot faster because they don't have anypreservatives on them to slow down that process. Make sure youonly buy what your family is reasonably going to be able toconsume in a small time frame.If you have been influenced by the statements about organicfoods tasting bad then you need to find out for yourself. Selectdifferent types of fruits and vegetables that you already love.Get them in an organic version and taste each of them. You willbe surprised at what you find, and that can change what youpurchase in the future.You can do such an experiment with family as well. Buy itemsthat you normally would but the organic types of them. Prepareand serve them the same way that you normally would and see whatthey happen to say about them. You can even ask them if the foodwas good tasting to get their feedback. Once they tell you thatit was all good you can share with them the experiment that youwere conducting.Of course if there are particular types of foods that you don'tlike, the organic version isn't going to make you like it.Perhaps that is what you first tried and it turned you off fromorganic foods from the start. Take a chance and try some otheritems and you will find out that there is no truth to suchrumors.As more consumers take the time to put this to the test insteadof listening to what is out there they will find out somethingdifferent. They will be more objective when it comes to organicfoods. It will also encourage them to start questioning whatthey learn instead of always accepting it at face value.In fact, once you find that you do like the taste of organicfoods, you will be more likely to buy them. Today you can getorganic fruits, vegetables, milk and other dairy products, wineand other drinks, and even meat. There is no reason to consumefoods that have chemicals or additives with such a selection oforganic foods out there.The idea to grow some of your own organic foods may cross yourmind as well. This is a great way to save money as well. Growingsome organic foods can get all of your family focused on eatingbetter and taking part in making sure that happens.About the author:The organic grocer is an online organic delivery retailer. Youcan by http://www.theorganicgrocer.com.au/">organicfood such as organic vegetables, http://www.theorganicgrocer.com.au/">organic fruit,organic milk in theorganicgrocer.com.au and they will deliverthe goods to your door. Organic grocer can deliver Sydney wideand also deliver http://www.theorganicgrocer.com.au/">organic bluemountains and organic penrith.