The 7 day Diet

The 7 day diet is based on the fat burning food cabbage. The 7 day diet can be very rigid and hard to stick to, but promises up to 10 pounds a week weight loss. Basically, the 7 day diet plan with cabbage soup consists of this:

On day one you can eat all fruits except bananas, as well as cabbage soup. The only drinks you are allowed is water and unsweetened tea. The cabbage soup is created by using a head of cabbage, an onion, green peppers, onion soup mix, garlic cloves, 2 vegetable bouillon cubes, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato juice, and additional spices to suit your tastes. Simply chop or dice all vegetables together into a large pot. Add water to cover all the ingredients and place on the stove on high heat. Allow this to come to a rolling boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes until all vegetables are tender.

Day 2 of the 7 day diet allows for a person to eat all the raw or cooked vegetables they choose along with the soup outlined above. There are no fruits allowed on this day, but for a dinner a dieter can include a baked potato with a small pat of butter. For day 3 of the 7 day diet, a dieter can eat all of the soup outlined above as they choose, along with fruits and vegetables without the potato for dinner. Drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day is required.

Day 4 of the 7 day diet requires that you eat bananas and skim milk, up to 8 bananas this day alone along with as much soup as a person wishes to eat. There should again be 8 glasses of water taken in on this day. Day 5 consists of eating 20 ounces of beef and 6 fresh tomatoes as well as 10 glasses of water. The soup should be eaten once this day at least, but the dieter can also eat skinless chicken instead of the beef.

Day 6 allows for eating as much vegetables and beef or chicken as a person wishes along with the soup. It is also recommended that 8 large glasses of water be taken in on this day. Day 7 of the 7 day diet allows that brown rice and unsweetened fruit juice as well as vegetables be eaten. The soup should be eaten twice this day along with 8 glasses of water.

For the 7day diet to work, it is recommended that the water be drank with each meal as well as between meals with snacks. Water allows for the stomach to feel as though it is fuller, thus lessening the amount of food that is eaten. It is also recommended that daily vitamins be taken to help keep the body nourished, as the foods that are prescribed in the diet are not able to wholly nourish the body with the required amounts of daily vitamins.

Read More......

5 Secrets to Tastier Meals

Even if you aren’t the world’s greatest cook, there’s no reason to make bland dishes. There are a few secrets that the best cooks use which you can start implementing in your own cooking to dazzle friends and family with better dishes.

Lemon Juice

This citric juice is tart, but it can really brighten a dish. If things just don’t taste great, you might want to add a splash of lemon to make the dish sizzle. A good example of this is when you’re making white sauce for pasta. A little lemon juice can really add some bite to what would otherwise be very ordinary dish.

Lime juice can also be used and it offers a slightly tarter taste. In a squeeze, you can also use vinegar, though the flavors will drastically change. The extra tang will still be there, though.

Salt

Many of us are cutting back on salt, but there are times when it is necessary to use it in order to bring out the real flavors of a dish. Meat, in particular does well with a little dash here and there.

The trick to using salt is knowing when to use it. With potatoes and other vegetables, as well as pasta, a little added to the cooking water will allow the flavor to infuse the food, whereas meat and such should be salted either before cooking or once completed. Beans should be salted after the cooking has completed, as should eggs, since they will toughen up.

Sugar

There’s a good reason sugar is found in most food products these days. It really does help take the flavor of food up a notch. Even homemade bread uses a little sugar to help the yeast develop and to give the bread a lovely flavor. Try adding a dash of sugar to your tomato sauce next time you’re making pasta and you’ll find that it really does accentuate the flavors.

Sugar also boosts the natural flavor of food and drinks. If you are making lemonade and accidentally add too much water, you can compensate with more sugar which will amp up the flavor.

Herbs

Of course, herbs are a great way to ensure that your dishes have plenty of flavors, but don’t get stuck on just a couple of routine herbs. Most people use parsley as a standby, but why not try adding ginger, cilantro or lemon grass to your dishes? A new taste can turn an old, boring dish into something exciting. For example, try adding some zip to your regular salad by sprinkling some dried oregano into it, or adding some torn basil leaves. You’ll be surprised at how different the same dish tastes.

Fat

As much as we try to eliminate it, fat is what carries the flavors to us in many dishes and it’s a shame to remove it. A little oil or margarine can drastically change a dish, but if you’re looking at serious deliciousness, you want real butter and full cream to cook with. These are high in calories, but your tastebuds will rejoice!

Food is all about flavor. If you don’t have great flavor, no one will be terribly interested in eating. With just a few small changes, you can take an ordinary dish and make it into something that is fit for a king.

Read More......

The best dessert soups in the world

Here in England, soups are a staple of the diet and subsequently available in many formats such as tinned, packaged, and even available as a warmer from the coffee vending machine. Elsewhere, in countries such as the Philippines and Japan, soups are popular cold, and often served as a dessert. I decided to explore this phenomenon further.

In China, ‘tong sui' refers to an entire grouping of pudding desserts that contains sweet soups and custards. Egg tong sui is a classic example that is simple to make and combines water, egg, and sugar. The water is boiled and the sugar added, afterwards the egg is then dropped in but without any pre-mixing. A thicker tong sui is a black sesame soup that also involves boiling water until hot. Instead of egg, sesame seeds are crushed into flour and added. There are also a range of more unique and unlikely types of tong sui, which can include such ingredients as three lined box turtle and frog's fallopian tubes.

In Asia, the azuki bean is a popular ingredient for red bean soup dessert. Red bean soup varies from country to country and in China is most often consumed as a simple tong sui, with just the addition of sugar. In Japan, red bean soup is most often served warm as Shiruko, a porridge like dessert including sweetened azuki beans with Mochi (rice cake), chestnuts, or dumplings. In Korea, red bean soup differs again and is referred to as Patjuk. Here, the consumption of Patjuk is tied to the tradition an eaten specifically during holiday time. Again, Patjuk, is often eaten with a glutinous rice cake.

In the Philippines, Ginataan is arguably one of the most popular dessert soups. Served cold, it is made from coconut milk that is heated and extracted at different times in order to acquire a thick and thin milk. The thin milk is cooked with pieces of sweet potato, taro (a Filipino leaf vegetable), yam, plantain, jack fruit and tapioca; and the thick milk is added again prior to serving. Although often served hot or cold, Ginataan is also popular served frozen similar to ice cream.

However, dessert soups are not only popular in the east. Fruit soups are served in Scandinavian and Baltic areas and, again, available hot and cold with the accompaniment of dumplings. Ingredients for these tend to include raisins, prunes, blackberries, cherries, cream, spices and alcohol.

Read More......

3 Tips For Making The Perfect Cup Of Coffee

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to enjoy gourmet coffee all the time? If you were to try and get your hands on gourmet coffee, it might cost you up to five dollars a cup, but with the right knowledge and equipment you can make it yourself at home. Below you will learn some of the secrets to a great cup of coffee:

1. Get A Machine

The trick to brewing great coffee is a great coffee machine. There are still the old- fashioned drip machines, that are one of the easiest types to use for beginners and coffee experts alike. Of course, for the hard-core experts we have the old-fashioned presses and hand brew machines, that are back in favor. Then you have the newest technology, the pod coffee machines. These are like a European coffeehouse machine, infusing hot water through coffee pads. Also, then for espresso lovers, there are pressurized steam espresso makers. Better yet is to use a French press or a pour-over filter using fresh water just off the boil.

2. Filters

Make sure, whatever machine you use, to also shop for the proper filter to put between it and your gourmet coffee. The best filters are gold, nylon, or some other permanent filter material. Thats because permanent filters allow most all of the flavour molecules from the coffee grinds to make it into the water.

3. Un-Roasted Coffee

Try to purchase only whole-bean coffee roasted within the last 72 hours and grind just before brewing. You want to do this to prevent staleness. Stale coffee is no good, and it's hard to get a decent cup of coffee from it. It's a sad face that most of the coffee you buy in stores is stale before you get it home.

The secret is to use green (un-roasted) coffee beans which can stay fresh for 2 years. Did you know that roasted coffee can go stale as fast as 2 weeks, and even worse is ground coffee goes stale in a just a few hours because of the immense surface area it exposes to the staling effects of air. Even with the "freshness preserving" packaging, it doesn't make much of a difference, it's actually more of a marketing gimmick. The best way to get fresh coffee is to know when it was roasted... but I understand that somethimes this information is hard to find.

As a final tip I should mention I'm bias to coffee from Central America which has a smooth acidity and easy drinking taste.


Read More......