Grilled Sweet Potatoes Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt

Dressing

• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (including tender stems)
• 1 teaspoon of lime zest or lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Pinch of salt

METHOD

1 Prepare your grill for hot, direct heat. While the grill is heating up, peel the sweet potatoes and slice lengthwise, or on a diagonal, into 1/4 inch-thick pieces. Coat the sweet potato slices with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with Kosher salt.

2 Combine all of the dressing ingredients into a small bowl.

3 Once the grill is hot, lay the sweet potato pieces down onto the grill grates. Cover the grill and cook until each side gets some grill marks, between 3-6 minutes for each side, depending on how hot your grill is.

4 Toss the sweet potatoes in a bowl with the dressing and serve hot.

source : http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grilled_sweet_potatoes/

How To Make Natural Glue Using Milk

How To Make Natural Glue Using Milk

Ingredients :
1½ cups milk
3 tsp white vinegar
1 tbsp baking soda
Water by preference for thinning glue

Directions :
1. Heat the milk in a pan until warm, then add vinegar. 
2. Keep heating and stirring until the milk separates into curds and whey.
3. Strain the mixture, keeping the solid curds (save your whey for other uses!). 
4. Collect the curds and put them back into the pan.
5. Add baking soda and enough water to get the consistency of your choosing and mix/stir thoroughly. 
6. Heat the mixture until it starts bubbling a bit, then turn it off and let it cool.
7. Bottle in airtight container upon cooling enough and/or use it right away for gluing! 

A Look on Diet Fitness

Many people nowadays are very much conscious about their own health and fitness. In addition to that, these people, and many others as well, are now having that desire to sculpt their bodies to ahieve that magazine-cover look. As a result, gyms, health spas and other fitness centers have proliferated all over to cater to the needs of the fitness buffs and afficionados.

Even on television exercise machines, weight loss products, and other paraphernalia to improve fitness have more or less gained control over the airwaves and made their way into the households. But exerise is not the only way to build that body beautiful. It also entails certain amount of responsibility on the foods one chooses to eat. Being healthy and fit requires one to observe diet fitness.

Diet fitness is as essential as exercise itself. Diet for fitness provides the essential nutrition one needs to restore worn-out muscles and for healthy growth. Diet fitness should never be taken for granted. With the popularity of keeping fit, many different views, methods, programs and dieting strategies have been formulated by many professionals. Among these are high carb diets and high fat diets. Whih one is more effective and which one should one choose to follow?

First thing to know would be the fundamental differences between these two diet approaches. As the name implies, high carb diets concentrates on taking in carbohydrate-rich foods while high fat diets endorses fat-rich foods. High carb diets are utilized to glycogen stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is a glucose complex that provides large amounts of energy ready for use in anaerobic exercises.

Fats, on the other hand, is well-nown for being the richest source of calories. It actually contains 2.5 times more calories than carbohydrates and proteins alike. Studies also show that it takes the body 24 calories to metabolize carbohydrates while it only takes 3 to burn down fat. So which one to follow? A person can follow a high carb and low fat fitness diet or the other way around. It is absolutely not recommended to follow both at the same time; unless of course if you want to gain body fat.

But then diet fitness is not all about losing fat, one must also consider his diet in order to keep fat away. Research shows that sustainable loss of weight can only be achieved on a diet which suits the individual food preferences, lifestyle, medical profile and satiety signals.

Diet programs all over can help you shed off excess pounds, but only one diet can help you stay sexy, and it is the one that satisfies you most. Other important aspects of having a fit diet are moderation, balance and variation. One must be careful not to leave out important nutrients and other substances necessary for healthy body functioning. health organizations are clear about the amounts of nutrients an individual should have in the body.

Low fat high carbs, high carbs low fat; the question is not which diet program will work out but which is it that will work for you. Striving for a sexy and healthy body does not have to burden an individual, diet fitness does not have to mean sticking to the same kind of food for life. One may even try to be adventurous and try out new foods out there. Who knows? one may even discover spinach interesting.

Homemade nutella!! With far less sugar

1 1/2 cup whole hazelnuts
1 1/2 cups whole milk
3/4 cup powdered milk
1 Tbsp. mild-flavored honey
pinch salt
1 heaping cup chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, or chips
1 scant cup chopped milk chocolate, or chips

On a rimmed baking sheet, toast the nuts in a 400ºF for 10 minutes, or until fragrant and their skins begin to pop. Transfer to a tea towel, gather into a bundle and rub together to remove as much of their skins as possible. While warm, transfer to the bowl of a food processor and blend until they go from finely ground to pasty and thick, like natural peanut butter.

Meanwhile, warm the milk, powdered milk, honey and salt in a small saucepan just until it starts to boil. Remove from heat. In a glass or stainless steel bowl set over a pan of simmering water (or in the microwave), melt the chocolates, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Add the melted chocolate to the ground nuts and continue to process the mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the warm milk mixture and process until everything is well blended and as smooth as you can get it. Makes about 2 cups.

Inside Out Caramel Apple Slices

Haley’s kindergarten class had a field trip there a couple weeks ago. Trevor’s preschool went there the month prior. And we usually make a family outing at the beginning of the Fall season.

Needless to say, we’ve been eating apples like nobody’s business. And my apple radar has been on high alert when reading through all my favorite blogs. I can’t even remember which one led me to this creation. But so I arrived. And so I made them. Stat.

I almost…almost stopped here -

…but I went all the way. Waited patiently for them to chill in the fridge, so I could cut them. Perhaps a fun Thanksgiving appetizer, me thinks.

Inside Out Caramel Apple Slices
Makes 24 slices
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cool time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
• 3 large Granny Smith apples (or any apple of your choice)
• 1 large lemon
• 2 cups caramel squares, unwrapped
• 2 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• Chocolate sauce (optional)

Directions
Cut your apples in half and use a melon baller to scoop out the insides, leaving the walls intact at about 1/2 to 1/4 inch thickness.

Squeeze the juice from the lemon onto the apples and allow to set. (This will keep them from turning brown right away.)

To make the caramel sauce, melt the caramel squares in a sauce pan over low heat, with the corn syrup. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes.

Using a paper towel, wipe your apples down, removing the lemon juice as much as possible. If the inside of your apple is too wet, the caramel wont stick.

Pour the caramel into the hollowed out apples until just below the top. Sprinkle with pecans.

Chill in the refrigerator until the caramel has set, about 20 minutes. Cut into slices and drizzle with chocolate sauce, if desired.

Note: these are sticky and messy. Just like any good caramel apple should be :D

(originally from Domestic Fits)

Crispy Lemon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

• 2 lb Brussels Sprouts
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 lemons
• more salt and pepper as needed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Cut off the bottom ends of the Brussels Sprouts and discard. Cut the remaining part in half and place into a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and give it a good mix. Spread this mixture onto a baking sheet.
3. Place the baking sheet into the oven and roast for 40 minutes. Remove the baking sheet every 15 minutes while roasting and give the Brussels Sprouts a good toss to make sure they are evenly roasting and browning. 10 minutes before they are done, squeeze an entire lemon on top of the vegetables and then cut the lemon up and throw it onto the baking sheet and place back into the oven to finish roasted.
4. Once the edges are crisp and brown, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Serve immediately.

DIY Drambuie

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon whole fennel seeds
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh picked rosemary leaves
• 3/4 cup blended Scotch

Procedures

1. 1
   Break up the fennel seeds using a mortar and pestle or under a heavy skillet. Cook the honey, water, fennel, and rosemary over medium heat stirring frequently, until it is integrated into a syrup, about 5 minutes. Let cool, with the fennel and rosemary still in the pot. Scrape off any white foam.
2. 2
   Once the syrup has cooled, pour liquid (with the fennel and rosemary still in it) into a sealable glass jar. Add Scotch, seal, and shake. Steep for 3 days at room temperature. Strain. Liqueur can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.