photo credit: scaredy_kat

From being the traditional breakfast buddy, omelet had already come a long way today. Especially if it is a very special Spanish Omelet that you are preparing, it definitely answers why a lot of people in the world are getting a munch of it over brunch, lunch, dinner, and any other meal of the day.

With this healthy yet satisfying dish, almost every kitchen in the world knows how to make one. However, just in case you want something special, try this Spanish Omelet that will surely be included among the favorites of those who have a taste of it.

The things needed for this omelet includes: five small cooked potatoes (sliced), half medium onion (minced), one small zucchini (sliced), one and a half cup of green or red peppers (thinly sliced), three eggs (beaten), five egg whites (beaten) five medium mushrooms, three ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese (shredded), one tablespoon low-fat parmesan cheese, and vegetable cooking spray. You can also add pepper, garlic salt, and other herbs to taste.

To start with the preparation, warm a non-stick pan with a vegetable spray at medium heat. Then sauté onion until its color is brown. Now, add the vegetables and sauté them until they are tender.

In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs, egg whites, pepper, garlic salt, and mozzarella cheese. Then stir this mixture into the vegetables that was sautéed earlier. Next, this mixed vegetable, eggs, and cheese can be transferred to a 10-inch pie pan with vegetable spray. Sprinkle on top some parmesan cheese and bake it in a 375 degree-Fahrenheit preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes.

You can slice it into five pieces and ready to be served. Now this Spanish Omelet dish is ready to be your all-day healthy meal buddy.

photo credit: mela sogono

Chicken is tasty. Vegetables are healthy. If you combine them both in one dish, there is no more question of its perfection. So be delighted with the Spanish-style Rice with Chicken. You can never think of any dish as tempting and as healthy as this.

So if you are ready to give it a try, then just follow these simple steps for this dish. Start by heating two tablespoons of olive oil over a medium heat. Then add two medium-sized chopped onions, six cloves minced garlic, two stalks diced celery, two medium-sized stripped red or green peppers, and one cup of mushrooms. Cook these ingredients for three minutes, stirring them often.

Once this is done, add two cups wholegrain rice and then sauté for two to three minutes. Make sure to stir them constantly so as the ingredients will be mixed well together. Now it is time to add three pounds of bite-sized pieces of boneless chicken breast, two and a half cups of low-fat chicken broth, three medium-sized chopped tomatoes, salt, water, and Saffron for color. Bring the water to a complete boil.

This time, you can already reduce the heat from medium to medium-low, cover the casserole and let it simmer for around 20 minutes. This is until the rice is already tender. Then mix one cup each of frozen peas, corn, and beans for around eight to 10 minutes.

Now, your Spanish-style dish is ready to be served. Take note that this dish is perfectly served while it is hot. For additional embellishments and taste, you can garnish some olives and capers on top.

photo credit: specialkrb

Since diabetics have a problem with their blood sugar, they have to follow a strict diet. If you have recently been diagnosed with diabetes, it’s only appropriate that you learn what food you should eat and what food you should avoid as well.

For instance, chromium is important in lowering blood sugar. Since this mineral regulates the blood sugar, the need for insulin in the body is lowered and so medication is reduced as well. If your diabetes is only mild, then getting a good dose of chromium through your food would prevent your disease from developing into full blown diabetes. If your glucose tolerance is abnormal chromium will help control it. Aside from that, chromium even normalizes low blood sugar as well.

To get your dose of chromium, you should include brewer’s yeast in your diet. Brewer’s yeast would even help your pancreas increase insulin production as well. Another great source of chromium is broccoli.

Taking Insulin Naturally

If you want to get a dose of insulin naturally, drinking bitter gourd juice would be a good idea. Simply juice 3 to 4 bitter gourds and drink it first thing in the morning while your stomach is still empty. You can also boil chopped bitter gourd in water. If you can’t take drinking bitter gourd juice, you can also powder its seeds and add it in your meal so you will not feel its taste as you are taking it.

The effects would still be the same and you will get additional dose of insulin. In addition to that, you will also get essential nutrients like iron and vitamins A, C, B1 and B2. It would also be effective in preventing any further complications brought about by diabetes like defective metabolism of carbohydrates, neuritis, eye problems and hypertension.

Healthy Foods from India

Consuming generous amounts of Bengal gram is also recommended. Since water extracts of Bengal gram increases the usage of glucose in the body, this generally reduces the insulin requirements in diabetics.

Another recommended food for diabetics is black gram. Germinated black gram is actually taken with Bengal gram juice to treat mild cases of diabetes. A half cup of Bengal gram is taken with germinated black gram for 3 to 4 months but with restricted carbohydrate diet.

Alternatively, you can also grind sprouted black gram too. Both concoctions would be as effective in preventing malnutrition due to diabetes.

More Foods for Diabetics

You do not have to go farther than your kitchen. Garlic is good source of potassium which diabetics need very much. A lot of potassium is lost in urination so by consuming garlic you are replacing this important mineral in your body. It also has zinc and insulin which diabetics need as well.

Curd also promotes insulin production. It does so by introducing certain friendly bacteria into the digestive system. This in turn washes and cleans the pancreas from all the acids and wastes. So again eating curd is good for diabetics.

photo credit: Smabs Sputzer

It is a known fact that the heart disease is one of the major killer diseases today. That is why one must always be careful about his cholesterol intake. In simple terms, one just has to be careful what he eats.

What Is Cholesterol?

Despite its bad connotation, cholesterol per se is not entirely bad. In fact, human and animal tissues naturally have cholesterol. The liver produces enough cholesterol in the body so it can produce vitamin D, a healthy cell membrane structure and other hormones.

On the other hand, food especially from animal also has cholesterol. The amount contained in each varies though. To eat zero cholesterol food, you can opt to eat plant derived instead.

LDL versus HDL Cholesterol

LDL cholesterol refers to low density lipoprotein cholesterol while HDL cholesterol stands for high density lipoprotein cholesterol. Between the two, LDL cholesterol is considered the bad cholesterol and HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol.

Lipoproteins are produced in the liver and circulated through the blood. It generally contains proteins, triglycerides and cholesterol. But what really distinguishes LDL from HDL cholesterol is the way they function.

LDL cholesterol generally functions to circulate cholesterol through the blood and to drop it off wherever cell building is taking place. The bad thing about it though is that unused cholesterol is stuck on the walls of the arteries. Too much of this would result to clogging of the arteries and problems in the heart.

HDL cholesterol, on the other hand, functions to clean up the arteries from residue cholesterol. Then it brings them to the liver so they can be reprocessed or excreted.

Fats and Cholesterol

Not all fatty foods are bad. You just need to be choosy. If you ever wonder why olive oil and canola oil are preferred, that’s because such oils contain monounsaturated fats. It’s a great alternative to saturated fats. It lowers LDL cholesterol without changing the HDL cholesterol levels. This would help you avoid any clogging in the arteries and it would help you avoid heart diseases as well.

The extreme opposite of this is saturated fats. It’s quite saturated that it even turns solid at room temperature. That is why you should avoid chicken skin, fats in meat, lards, butter, cheese, milk fat and other dairy products. The more you consume these products the higher is your risk to coronary heart disease.

Hydrogenated fats, on the other hand, are liquid but they also turn sold after processing. They also add to high cholesterol levels.

Corn, cottonseed, soy bean and sunflower are less evil. They are all polyunsaturated fats. They lower LDL cholesterol. But the only problem is polyunsaturated fats also lower HDL cholesterol. Since it functions to clean up the arteries, you don’t need to lower it in any manner.

But then again, you should not consume excess fats either. Always keep everything in moderation and choose the healthy fats when you need to.

photo credit: thedabble

For the meat-lovers out there, here is a great treat for you. With the options of beef or chicken, you can have a pot of the famous Pozole with just some few easy steps. Craving to taste one now? Check out how you can make this simple yet delectable cuisine, perfect for your meat-loving taste buds.

The basic ingredients needed for this Pozole dish are the following: two pounds of cubed lean beef or cubed skinless, boneless chicken breast, two tablespoons of olive oil, one large chopped onion, one clove finely chopped garlic, salt, pepper, one-fourth cup of chopped fresh cilantro, one can stewed tomatoes, two ounces tomato paste, and one can hominy. When you already gathered all of these ingredients, then you may grab a large pot and start preparing the dish.

Heat the olive oil in the pot then add and sauté the beef or the chicken. Put the onion, cilantro, garlic, pepper, salt, and just enough water to cover the beef or chicken. Then, stir the ingredients so as they will be mixed evenly. Now, you can cover the pot and let it cook over just a low heat until the meat is already tender.

When the meat is already fine, put in the tomatoes and the tomato paste. Let the cooking continue for 20 minutes. Then add the hominy and cook for another 15 minutes. Just make sure the dish is being stirred occasionally. If the paste becomes too thick, you can add water to get your preferred consistency for the Pozole.

As simple as this, you can already enjoy this dish that you have made. Share it with your family members and friends. You can have Pozole as a simple dinner treat or an extravagant treat on special occasions.

photo credit: avlxyz

Though fried chicken is the all-time favorite of all ages, many already find it as too regular for a meal. What if you make a twist to your ordinary fried chicken? Say you add something like this or like that. At first, you may not welcome the idea. However, you can that chicken off the fridge and make this Oven Fried Chicken that will surely give the dish a brand new definition.

What will be needed are three pounds of whole fryer chicken, skim milk, flour, and one-eight teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Also, you need one teaspoon each of the following seasonings: thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley flakes, paprika, salt, and black pepper.

Start the preparation by preheating the oven at 450 degree-Fahrenheit. Once it is done, you can skin the chicken and place in the skim milk.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix all the seasonings with the flour. Coat the chicken parts with the flour mixture. Ensure that each piece is very well coated. Now, grab a pan with a non-stick cooking spray. Place the chicken on it. You also need to spray some of the non-stick cooking spray on top of the chicken.

Once everything is set, bake it for around 45 minutes or until the juices are running clear. Once you take this out of the oven, you surely will be delighted by the aroma alone. But wait until you have a taste of it. Every one who have tasted it will never question you on why it is your new favorite. That is for sure.

Diabetes is characterized by a reduced ability to use and metabolize dietary carbohydrates, abnormally high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia) and an abnormal amount of sugar in the urine.

When a person has diabetes, the body either doesn’t manufacture enough insulin, or can’t use its own insulin as it should. This condition causes sugar to build up in the blood. This disease can create negative health complications, which include heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations.

Ampalaya (Bitter Melon or Bitter Gourd) with a scientific name Momordica charantia is a vegetable grown throughout the Philippines.

The Philippine variety of Ampalaya has proven to be most potent. Its bitter taste had also been the distinguishing factor from the rest of the fruits with medicinal value, and this is due to the presence of a substance known as momorcidin. Momordicin, a substance that is sometimes called plant insulin, is responsible to lower the blood sugar level.

Ampalaya contains a mixture of flavanoids and alkaloids make the Pancreas produce more insulin that controls the blood sugar in diabetics. This means that the action of Ampalaya on blood sugar is equivalent to the action of the medicine used for diabetics.

Aside from Ampalaya’s medicinal value, it is good source of vitamins A, B and C, iron, folic acid, phosphorous and calcium.

Other plants that may help to maintain blood sugar aside from Ampalaya are Banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa Linn.) and Turmeric (Curcuma longa). Banaba is shown to have some natural insulin like properties that regulate control in blood sugar. Turmeric is a strong anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant which helps repair damage body cell and reverse aging.

The synergistic effect of the ingredients and the balanced formulation ensures that an Ampalaya plus Banaba and Turmeric product for diabetics actually works. Ampalaya plus Banaba and Turmeric is marketed in the Philippines as Ampalaya Plus has been clinically proven to naturally lower blood sugar level.

For more information about Ampalaya Plus, you can visit their website at http://www.ampalaya.ph