Ethnic Foods

By Joseph Silva

 CARE OF MEAT IN THE MARKET.–Animal foods decompose more readily than any other kind, and the products of their decomposition are extremely dangerous to the health. It is therefore a serious matter when everything that comes in contact with meat is not clean. Regarding the proper care of meat, the sanitary condition of the market is the first consideration. The light and ventilation of the room and the cleanliness of the walls, floors, tables, counters, and other equipment are points of the greatest importance and should be noted by the housewife when she is purchasing meat. Whether the windows and doors are screened and all the meat is carefully covered during the fly season are also matters that should not be overlooked. Then, too, the cleanliness and physical condition of the persons who handle the meat should be of as great concern as the sanitary condition of the market. The housewife who desires to supply her family with the safest and cleanest meat should endeavor to purchase it in markets where all the points pertaining to the sanitary condition are as ideal as possible. If she is at all doubtful as to the freshness and cleanliness of what is sold to her, she should give it thorough cooking in the process of preparation so that no harm will be done to the persons who are to eat it.

CARE OF MEAT IN THE HOME.–Because of the perishable nature of meat, the care given it in the market must be continued in the home in order that no deterioration may take place before it is cooked. This is not much of a problem during cold weather, but through the summer months a cool place in which to keep it must be provided unless the meat can be cooked very soon after it is delivered. Meat that must be shipped long distances is frozen before it is shipped and is kept frozen until just before it is used. If such meat is still frozen when it enters the home, it should not be put into a warm place, for then it will thaw too quickly. Instead, it should be put in the refrigerator or in some place where the temperature is a few degrees above freezing point, so that it will thaw slowly and still remain too cold for bacteria to become active.

Even if meat is not frozen, it must receive proper attention after it enters the home. As soon as it is received, it should be removed from the wrapping paper or the wooden or cardboard dish in which it is delivered. If the meat has not been purchased personally, it is advisable to weigh it in order to verify the butcher’s bill. When the housewife is satisfied about the weight, she should place the meat in an earthenware, china, or enameled bowl, cover it, and then put it away in the coolest available place until it is used. Some persons put salt on meat when they desire to keep it, but this practice should be avoided, as salt draws out the juices from raw meat and hardens the tissues to a certain extent.

If such precautions are taken with meat, it will be in good condition when it is to be cooked. However, before any cooking method is applied to it, it should always be wiped with a clean, damp cloth. In addition, all fat should be removed, except just enough to assist in cooking the meat and give it a good flavor. Bone or tough portions may also be removed if they can be used to better advantage for soups or stews.

Read about how to cook bok choy and cabbage nutrition at the Fruits And Vegetables website.

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popular ethnic foods

By Jason Richards

 When it comes to determining how mentally fit you are, you may think that you have nothing to worry about. After all, you do all that you need to do and there’s nothing limiting you. But, have you actually reached the highest level that you can?

Usually people struggle with this aspect because of the vast number of misbelieves about mental and emotional well being. Believe it or not, most people go through stages of depression, mental turmoil and even times when they are so stressed that they can not function properly. During these times, you can consider them, and you, mentally unstable and unfit.

Yes, it hurts to hear but just like your body goes through illness, your mind can be struggling at the same time, although you may not realize it.

To determine where you stand in mind fitness, ask yourself these questions. Be honest, now, there’s nothing for you to be embarrassed about but a lot to be gained when you can improving your mind’s fitness.

1. Do you have physical pain that is not the result of an injury? This could be stress related!

2. Do you struggle with remembering things from one moment to the next? Do you find yourself struggling to remember why you walked into a room?

3. Do you struggle to make the goals that you set for yourself?

4. Do you feel anxiety, stress and angry often? What does it feel like and how intense does it get?

5. Do you hate the life that you are leading, are you unhappy with your lifestyle or do you have regrets about your life?

All of these things play a role in how mentally fit you are. While you may not want to do this, you should schedule a meeting with a psychologist just to talk through some of the feelings that you have. For the most part, working through these issues can be the best way for you to overcome your problems and to find overall benefit in your life.

If you have trouble sleep, or are eating whenever you feel like it, then you should be considering the vast number of mind fitness needs you may have.

Improving the fitness of your mind not only improves your daily life but increases your longevity, too!

Emotional Eating

We touched on this subject just a few minutes ago in our dieting chapter but it’s important for you to address now, too. Emotional eating is eating when things go bad, when you are stressed or when you are in the mood for a certain feeling that you can’t get from the world around you.

For many millions of people, this is one of the prime reasons that they are overweight or unhealthy in their diets. While food never used to be so readily available, today its easy to have a pantry full of food and a refrigerator that’s stocked to the brim. It’s easy to go to the food to get the satisfaction that you need.

Yet this is a dangerous situation. Those that use food to fight their emotional instability are most likely to fall deeper into a path of self destruction. For example, consider this scenario that happens over the span of time.

You begin by getting stressed at work. You find yourself reaching for a candy bar to get the extra rush that you need to get through the tasks at hand. You then find yourself dealing with pressure from the boss; you didn’t do the job right. You decide you need a big, fatty lunch. Soon, the pounds are creeping onto your hips. There’s no time to exercise and to meet deadlines you increase the amount of bad foods you are eating. Soon, you are not fitting well into your clothing. You become upset at yourself, your self esteem drops.

As your self esteem drops, you find yourself in even more problems. Now, you hate your job so much that the only thing that makes it feel better is eating something bad for you. In fact, you almost purposely make the situation worse by eating bad. You aren’t any good. You are a failure. You can’t make the right decisions. Just look at you….these are all things that people end up saying to themselves when they are emotionally depleted.

Emotional eating is one of the hardest cycles to break, yet if left intact, it’s also one of the worst things you can do for both your physical and your mental health state.

In just a bit we’ll talk about some of the ways that you can have good mind fitness, which includes emotional eating. The first step in fighting the way that food makes you feel, though, is to recognize that there is a connection between the way that you feel and the way that you eat. Realizing this makes a large difference in improving both your physical fitness and your mind’s fitness.

Read about protein s deficiency and foods with protein at the Health And Nutrition website.

Food

ethnic foods