Thursday, June 28, 2007

Barbeque Cooking Suggestions

When you think of barbeque cooking, this normally brings up thoughts about having a party for friends and neighbors. This happens even though most people do not have either the equipment or experience to cook for large groups of people. Here are some tips to help you with your these (primarily) summer activities.

Some Helpful Tips and Advice

1. Make sure you have the right equipment before attempting to cook for a large group. There are many different types of barbequing devices that can be used for your gathering. You can find a unit that is right for you if you visit the local hardware store as they normally have a large selection. This will include units that will use charcoal, gas or electric. They range from portable or disposable to built in brick and mortar units. Just get the one that you feel provides the ability to cook the amount and types of food you plan on serving.

2. If you plan on cooking for a large group, you may consider pre-cooking some of the food. You could then just drop these items on your grill to add the finishing touches. Like the taste of that great sauce you have created or the smoky flavor from the pecan chips. Also, it is a good idea to stay with two or three main course dishes and then compliment them with salads and breads.

3. Explore the many barbeque recipes that are available for the many different types of food that is great fresh off of the grill. These include chicken wings, great burgers (either beef, buffalo or vegetarian), spare ribs, and chicken. With a little creativity, you will be able to deliver a meal that will have them coming back for seconds!

4. Another way to ensure that your meal will be a success is to marinate the meat in advance. Some of the recipes you find will tell you how long this should happen but, in my opinion, the shortest time will be overnight. This will allow the flavor to soak into the meat and provide a fantastic taste to your guests.

5. Contrary to some thought, food from the barbeque does not have to be black on the outside and pink on the inside. You do not need a super hot fire to cook your food quickly. It is better to cook your food over a source that is not flaming up and that will cook evenly. If you are using charcoal, it may take 30 minutes to get the fire right. A good way to tell if it is right is a visual examination. A good charcoal fire will be starting to turn a dusty grey color and give off a reddish glow.

6. Another thing to keep in mind is that you do not need to "play with your food". Buy this I mean you should trim excess fat, do not poke the meat a lot and do not flip it every two minutes. Let the meat cook without being pushed around a lot.

7. Another key that is not mentioned much is that you should be very carful with the type of lighter you use for the charcoal. Make sure that you do not use toxic materials (some lighter fluids are) to start your charcoal. Using this type of material may cause toxins and bad taste to penetrate your food.

By following a few simple tips, you will be able to serve up some great barbeque meals. It just takes some simple preparation and attention to detail and you will be come an expert at barbeque cooking.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Links Between Green Tea and Losing Weight

Going back thousands of years, green tea has been enjoyed in both Japan and China, both as a wonderful tea to drink and for all its herbal healing properties. In recent times, green tea has also caught on in the West for the same reasons. Many scientific studies have been done to determine whether its therapeutic use is justified, and to learn just why green tea is so effective. Much has been learned, and one of the most exciting discoveries has been the link between green tea and losing weight.

Why is Green Tea and Losing Weight So Effective?

Green tea has been proven to have several connections in the area of weight loss. It helps to speed up up the metabolism causing the body to use up more calories, it helps to keep the body from storing calories as fat, and can help suppress the appetite. Green tea and losing weight is also made easier by the fact that green tea is naturally calorie-free itself.

Burn More Calories, Lose More Fat

Research done in Switzerland in the 1990s showed that overweight subjects taking a green tea supplement while eating a normal diet became able to burn more calories than those who were not taking the green tea pill. Green tea works to accomplish this by increasing the rate of metabolism in the body, which is called thermogenesis. As well, when using green tea and losing weight, one tends to lose more fat than you would if you were not drinking green tea. This leads to a much healthier body in the end.

Eat Less!

The most obvious thing you need to do when drinking green tea and losing weight is to eat less food, like with any diet plan. Unlike most other plans, green tea will help you with this, as it acts as a natural control on your appetite, telling your brain that you are full after you have eaten food instead of leaving you wanting to overeat.

Replace Other Drinks with Green Tea and Lose Weight Faster

An obvious benefit of this plan is that you can just replace the drinks you normally consume with green tea and losing weight will be easy! The average coffee shop drink contains many more calories and gram of fat than you should be drinking just to get the benefit of the caffeine in it. Green tea also contains caffeine, although not in as large a quantity as coffee – this is another reason that makes green tea healthier. But it does contain enough to give you a little boost of energy to get you through your days. Unsweetened, green tea has no caffeine, and like all teas does not contain fat.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

What is Vanilla Jasmine Tea?

Jasmine tea is the most popular flavored tea in the world. Chinese tea gardeners have been producing this delicacy for at least 700 years. Though jasmine tea is already considered a blend, it is often used as the base for additional blends because of the popularity of the jasmine tea base. Jasmine tea is mild and slightly sweet, making it perfect for combining with other flavors, like vanilla.

Jasmine tea is created by plucking the jasmine blossoms just as they are beginning to bloom and adding them to the tea leaves at night to ensure the best infusion of the aroma and fragrance. In most cases, green tea is used as the base for jasmine tea. To make vanilla jasmine tea, the tea is infused with vanilla bean or vanilla flavoring after the infusion of the jasmine blossoms. While vanilla jasmine tea is most often made using green tea, it can be found in black, white and oolong tea varieties, too. The type of jasmine tea used for the base will affect the flavor, caffeine content and health benefits of the vanilla jasmine tea.

While China is still the largest producer of jasmine tea, in part because the Chinese are such large consumers of all varieties of jasmine tea, you can find vanilla jasmine and other jasmine teas produced in nearly every tea producing country in the world. There are Formosa vanilla jasmine teas from Taiwan, Darjeeling and Assam vanilla jasmine teas from India and Ceylon vanilla jasmine teas from Sri Lanka.

Black Vanilla Jasmine Tea - Vanilla jasmine tea made from a black tea base will have a bold flavor and produce a rich liquor. You'll find this tea to be complex in flavor, with many variances, depending upon the variety of black tea used as the tea base. This is a sweet blend of tea, perfect for serving with dessert. Black vanilla jasmine tea will have the most caffeine of any vanilla jasmine blend.

Green Vanilla Jasmine Tea - Vanilla jasmine tea made from green tea will produce a much lighter liquor, often pale amber or green in color. This tea will be milder in flavor with a very natural taste. Because of the lightness of the tea, the vanilla and jasmine flavors will be much more prominent. The region of the world in which the green tea is grown will affect the flavor of the tea. Green vanilla jasmine tea will have less caffeine than black vanilla jasmine tea and will offer many health benefits.

Green tea is a very powerful source of anti-oxidants, which are important to our health because they combat free radicals in our bodies. Free radicals are created as a by-product of our digestive processes. While they are naturally occurring, they are oxygen containing molecules that have the power to damage our cells and DNA. However, a diet rich in anti-oxidants, like those found in green and white tea, help rid our bodies of these free radicals before they can damage our bodies. For many years, Asian cultures, where green tea is a staple beverage, have shown far lower incidences of serious illnesses like heart disease and many forms of cancer. This led to research on green tea's health benefits. Since then, much research has shown a strong connection with lifelong green tea consumption and a longer and healthier life.

White Vanilla Jasmine Tea- This is the sweetest variety of vanilla jasmine tea you'll find and likely the most refreshing. White tea, because it is plucked before the tea buds have even opened, and because it is left unfermented, is the mildest and sweetest of all tea varieties. When it is paired with fragrant jasmine and sweet vanilla, it creates a delicious tea that has very little caffeine and could probably serve as all the dessert you need after a fine meal. This tea is equally delicious whether enjoyed iced or hot. In addition, it contains all the health benefits of green tea.

Oolong Vanilla Jasmine Tea - Oolong teas are semi-fermented, meaning that they do go through a fermentation process, but one that is much shorter than that of black tea. A vanilla jasmine oolong tea will be complex in flavor, with fruity notes and a sweet finish. You'll find it bolder than a green or white blend, but never bitter or strong. The flavor will be significantly affected by how long the oolong tea leaves are fermented and by the country in which the tea was grown. Oolong vanilla jasmine tea will also be a larger leaf tea than the other varieties.

There are nearly endless possibilities in the varieties and flavors you can find in vanilla jasmine tea. Each variety of tea will have its own unique flavors based on where it is grown, how it is processed and the quality of the tea. In addition, the quality and type of the jasmine blossoms and vanilla used to flavor the tea will impact its flavor. Vanilla is grown in several areas of the world, with each area producing a slightly different flavor. Jasmine is also grown in many parts of the world, and the jasmine blossoms are slightly affected by the soil of the growing region.

So, you see, vanilla jasmine tea can have many subtleties and nuances. However, it is easily one of the most fragrant and pleasing teas, in any form. The combination of familiar and comforting vanilla paired with fragrant jasmine can make any variety of tea pleasing to nearly any palate.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Benefits Of Green Tea Products - Do You Know All The Health Benefits Of Drinking Green Tea?

There are numerous health benefits of drinking green tea. In 2007 there are numerous brands of green tea available. This article will reveal the health benefits of drinking green tea plus explain some green tea products available to consumers.

The first kind of Green Tea product available is available in Green Tea tea bags. This is probably the simplest way to drink and brew your Green Tea. All you need to do is place the tea bag in boiling water and let it steep as required. However, it is important NOT to brew Green Tea too long as you will lose the health benefits of Green Tea as a result.

The antioxidants in Green Tea have a lot of health benefits including helping people with their weight loss. Green tea does this by using its natural fat burning properties and its ability to increase metabolism. The antioxidants in Green Tea also help prevent obesity. The antioxidant EGCG, has also been found to be especially effective in Green Tea weight loss.

There are many health benefits of Green Tea. Another of them is its ability to reduce inflammation. That is the reason why Green Tea is frequently use to treat arthritis as it greatly reduces the swelling and inflammation. That is also how Green Tea helps with acne scars. Acne is basically inflammation of the skin and that is why you can use Green Tea to help clear your acne scars.

There are numerous of blends of green tea and now there are green tea products coming onto the market place that contain other beneficial herbs. One of these is ginseng green tea. Ginseng Green Tea from China contains the many benefits of both Green Tea and ginseng. It is a very effective harmonial blend of both a great Green Tea taste and proven health benefits that come with both Green Tea and ginseng.

It contains just the right amount of ginseng for medicinal purposes. Ginseng Green Tea is a very refreshing and delicious tea blend that is invigorating both hot and cold. Green Tea and ginseng both contain powerful properties and antioxidants that are present in this tea.

The research and studies have revealed how Green Tea also alleviates high blood pressure hypertension symptoms over and over again. By simply drinking Green Tea in moderation can greatly reduce high blood pressure hypertension symptoms. If you suffer from high blood pressure hypertension symptons then consider adding Green Tea to your diet and start living life free from high blood pressure symptoms. This article has discussed a handful of the health benefits of drinking green tea.

However, the great news is that the Green Tea caffeine content should pose no real health risks when it comes to cancer, birth defects, reproductive function and heart disease. Research has been conducted by the US Food & Drug Administration about caffeine content in general. In May 1987 the FDA declared that it had no evidence to support the use of caffeine content in beverages would result in these beverages, including Green Tea, becoming injurious to one's health.

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Can Green Tea Help Me Lose Weight?

If you want to lose weight, you will find that drinking green tea can help. In fact, the beverage is fast becoming an alternative for dieters who prefer weight loss programs that help them lead a healthier way of life. Here are a variety of reasons why consuming green tea periodically can help you reduce your weight.

Cutting down on calories is one way to lose weight. Drinking tea in place of coffee and cream, a combination that's abundant in calories, will greatly help in your quest for weight reduction. Aside from cutting back on your weight, green tea consumption is also good for your health since the brew comes with beneficial antioxidants like polyphenols and flavonoids.

Most weight loss programs commonly include green tea in their plans because of the beverage's properties that cause suppression of appetite, which then causes a person to control his food intake. Green tea contains caffeine, a substance that's effective in inhibiting food craving, making it an effective appetite-suppressant.

Green tea can also help you lose weight by repressing the effects of insulin, which is responsible for the conversion of glucose into energy that's then stored into fat. The delay in the insulin action causes sugar to be moved directly to the muscles for immediate use. This reaction caused by green tea is essential for the body to lose weight.

Incorporating green tea in weight loss programs can also assist in the promotion of thermogenesis, a process essential for the body to lose weight. The thermogenesis process entails the burning of body fat and the release of calories. This vital process is a result of the interaction between the caffeine content and the catechin polyphenols found in green tea. This is one reason that weight loss plans based on green tea are successful in speeding up the body's metabolic rates, which eventually helps the body lose weight.

In one study, various groups of people were administered with caffeine to determine how that compared to green tea in thermogenesis. The results showed that people who consumed green tea had higher thermogenesis compared to those taking the equivalent amount of caffeine without green tea catechins.

Since losing weight is also associated with exercise, a new study might be of help to exercise buffs who are fond of drinking green tea. A recent study was conducted to test the effect of regular intake of green tea extract. It was found that taking green tea extract regularly boosted a person's endurance in performing exercises by up to 24 percent.

Study findings have indicated that a certain compound found in green tea might be instrumental in helping people to lose weight. These compounds are called flavonoids, which are thought to modify the way the body utilizes norepinephrine, a hormone that monitors the burning of calories. When flavonoids react with the other ingredients of green tea, more calories are burned, a process that assists people in losing weight.

One other ingredient in green tea that helps people lose weight is the compound catechin polyphenols, which also interact with other green tea ingredients. This reaction helps lose weight through the burning of fat and through the process of thermogenesis.