19 Helpful Cooking Tips

1. Never over mix muffins and quick breads. Fold dough with large spoon until flour is barely mixed and dough is lumpy.

2. Sprinkle your cutting board with salt before chopping fresh herbs. It will keep them on the cutting board.

3. Store sharp knives in a knife block – or stick wine corks on their tips before placing in drawers.

4. If you need to finely chop bacon, put it in the freezer for 20 min. This will make it easy to chop without being stringy.

 5. To test if your oil is hot enough for frying, use a thermometer or stick the end of a wooden spoon in the oil. (Bubbles=ready!)
  
6. Always let meat “rest” for at least 10 minutes when you take it out of crockpot, pan or oven. It will cut much more easily.
 
7. Get to know parchment paper. Great for lining baking pans or preventing pastry from sticking to your roller.
  
8. When rising dough containing yeast, cover loosely with plastic wrap instead of the traditional tea towel.
  
9. Run out of baking powder? Combine 3/4 of a teaspoon of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of vinegar.
  
10. Never slice cake more than 15 minutes before serving. It will not taste fresh and may dry out.

11. Never open the oven door while cooking soufflé. And when you take your soufflé out of the oven, never bang the oven door.

12. For perfect Baked Alaska, make sure your cake is not warm and your ice-cream is the hard-brick type – not the creamy type.

13. Learn “base” recipes and then experiment by adding different seasonings or ingredients – basic sauces, muffins, cakes and bread.

14. Don’t just bring your butter to room temperature when preparing to bake: Do it to the eggs you’re planning to use also.

 15. Cool your cakes on a wire rack, upside down. (Place rack on cake; then flip over, holding both sides of pan and rack firmly.)

 16. Make ordinary cake, cookies or pancakes special by using heart-shaped Valentine’s Day pans.

 17. Make a Valentine’s Day trifle in a heart-shaped bowl (large or individual-sized) for extra visual impact.

18. When camping, fully prepare soups, stews and other one-dish items ahead of time. Just reheat while you’re in the woods.

19. There is no right or wrong cheese for a pizza. Go with what you like and what you have on hand.

Have a great week ahead.

How Yoga Helps With Diabetes

Diabetes in various forms affects up to 5percent of the world population with 12 million diabetics in Western Europe alone.

Of the different ways in which diabetes presents, noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is probably the most commonly encountered genetic disease.

NIDDM or Type II diabetes is multifactorial, depending also on environmental factors including obesity, sedentary lifestyles and nutritional imbalances.

Yoga has shown some beneficial results in curing diabetes. The yoga exercises that are prescribed for curing diabetes is different from hatha yoga exercise because it involves positions tailored to treat certain conditions, as well as meditation, relaxation and stretching exercises.

One of the studies conducted to cure diabetes was the one set up by the Yoga Biomedical Trust, founded in 1982 by biochemist Dr Robin Monro, and an Indian yoga research foundation which discovered that practicing yoga for 30 minutes a day for one month helped reduce blood glucose levels in some diabetics.

The yoga patients took part in one or two 90-minute sessions a week and were asked to practice at home. The classes included the specific yoga exercises of the spinal twist, the bow and abdominal breathing.

At the end of the 12 weeks blood sugar levels fell significantly in all patients in the group and were slightly raised in a control group which had not joined in the yoga sessions.

Three yoga students managed to reduce their medication, including one man who had not changed his drug regime for 20 years.

It has been known for a long time that exercise is helpful for diabetics. Yoga therapy may help reduce stress levels which could play a part in maturity onset diabetes.

But one drawback is that some patients would find it hard to keep up the regular sessions needed to sustain the benefit.

All the patients said they would like to see these classes set up on a permanent basis but we don't have the money.

It is not necessarily the exercise component of the yoga therapy package which is most important, because there is not enough physical exercise to account for the changes, but stress reduction has a lot to do with it. Stress hormones increase sugar levels in the blood.

People also benefit from the stabilization of their moods which yoga brings, an increased feeling of well-being and a feeling of being more in control, which may help with their diet control.

Have a good day.

The Health Benefits Of Yoga Exercises

Yoga exercises strengthen your body and make it more flexible.

Yoga also calms your mind and gives you energy. In active sports or strenuous exercises, you use up energy.

In yoga classes, students report that they feel tranquil after a class, yet have more energy.

Slow and steady motion is the key to going into or coming out of the postures.

You hold a yoga pose for several seconds or even minutes and give attention to full, quiet breath.

Your yoga instructor will always encourage you to relax as the exercises are being done.

You gently place your body into yoga postures. Done correctly, there's very little chance of injury or muscle stress.

A particular exercise is not to repeated dozens of times, nor are you ever encouraged to push yourself too much.

A yoga session is designed for balance. You stretch to the right and then to the left. You bend back and then forward.

You learn to recognize when one side is stronger or more flexible than the other. Thus harmony and balance are achieved with yoga practice.

People of all ages can practice yoga exercises. They are easily modified to meet your needs and physical condition.

Don't be put off by the difficult looking postures you may see in a yoga book.

A yoga practice can be tailor-made just for you. If something is really impossible for you to do, just forget it.

 Never compete with yourself or others. Yoga is a stress-free but powerful way to exercise.

Yoga is good for increasing your flexibility and relieving stress, but it doesn't take the place of aerobic exercise.

You should still do regular, aerobic exercise, which increases your cardiovascular fitness, helps you lose weight, and, for people with non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes at least, improves blood glucose control.

Have a great weekend.