Poppy and Chocolate cake

Submited by a very nice visitor for you enjoyment.


Poppy and Chocolate cake

POPPY and CHOCOLATE Cake
Integrates: for 4

1. 2 eggs

2. 1 tea cup of sugar

3. 1 teacup of sunflower oil

4. 2 pack of vanilla sugar

5. 1 and half tea cup of milk

6. 1 tea cup of farina tip 550 or 500

7. 2 and half tea cup of grounded poppy

8. half tea cup of semolina

9. 1 baking powder

10. half tea spoon of sea salt

11. 2 table spoon of chocolate powder

12. 1 table spoon of rum

Coating:

1. 7 table spoon of marmalade

2. 1 tea spoon of honey

3. 1 table spoon of Rum

Glaze

* 100 gram of dark chocolate/70% of cacao/* 80 grams of butter*

2 table spoon warm water

Prepare:

* first mix eggs with sugar and vanilla*

add oil,milk,farina and mix it slowly*

add semolina ,baking powder,chocolate powder, grounded poppy and Rum*

mix more 5 min.*

bake it on 180 Celsius about half hour*

add coating and glaze while all is warm*

put all in fridge for 8 hour*

serve cold and Bone Appetit

Whole foods

Since the last time I posted I have gradually changed my diet to whole foods, rather then a set type of brand diet. At first it was pretty frustrating but now I feel pretty comfortable with it.

I still do not eat much starches, just enough to meet my weekly needs.

I have sort of stabilized at a 160 to 165 pounds, but I will continue to hope for further weight loss later on down the road.

My doctor put on water loss pills to help with my high blood preasure. After all my work my hypertention only got worse. She said diet wasn't enough for me and that I need meds. I kind of freaked out and said I wanted more tests down before I went down that road. Two days worth of tests later, I started my water loss pills. Apparently they make you pee. Just what a women needs, an excuse to hog the bathroom even more! I have to go back and get my test results and get my blood preasure taken again to see if more meds will be required.

I hope things will get straightened out soon, I'm starting to feel a little frustrated.

But on a more positive note, I decided to take up my crafts hobby again. I go off and on through out the year. Usually, it depends on what is going on in my life. Right now I need a distraction, and making and selling my wares seemed like a good distraction. If you are wondering what I make and sell you can visit my Etsy store by clicking the pictures of my items for sale which is located on the left of my blog near the top. Let me know what you think :)


Anyways, figured I better stop in and say hi since it's been a while since my last visit.

P.S. You are welcome to submit your own recipes too, so far nobody has, it would be nice to see some postings for recipes from some of my blog viewers.

Ciao for now

New Life Style Changes

I haven't posted in a while. Truth is I have been very busy. I decided to go on the South Beach Diet with a friend at work to try and lose some weight. The diet seemed healthy and resonable so I decided to give it a try. A few days later I went to see the doctor, my blood preasure is still up. Last year around March I had stage 2 hypertention. My blood preasure was 165/112. I was 31 years old. I am now 32, and my blood preasire has gone down since then but only to bounce between the prehypertention and stage 1 hypertention stages. Basically I sat at 28 points to hight on the top number and 8 points to high on the bottom. I told my doctor about the diet changes, she said that was a good idea then also suggested the DASH DIET. I went out and got some books on both diets and started reading. I like a few things about each so I decided to mix a little of both diets together and see what happens.

I am losing weight and as a result, I also feel better and according to a few people look healthier too. They say my face looks less puffy, red and shiny. Stomach wise I have noticed a difference too. I do look a little thinner. So I guess my version of the 2 diets is working for me.

What I did was replace potatoes with water chestnuts and dried beans. I also replaced pastas with spagitti squash, which actually tastes pretty good, and according to http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/Foods/1100/11493/Food.aspx only containes

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 cup (155g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories
42
Calories from Fat
4
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
0.4g
1%
Saturated Fat
0.1g
0%
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.2g
Monounsaturated Fat
0g
Cholesterol
0mg
0%
Sodium
27.9mg
1%
Potassium
181.4mg
5%
Total Carbohydrate
10g
3%
Dietary Fiber
2.2g
1%
Sugars
3.9g
1%
Protein
1g
2%
Vitamin A
3%
•
Vitamin C
9%
Calcium
3%
•
Iron
3%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
Calories:
2,000
2,500
Total Fat
Less than
65g
80g
Sat Fat
Less than
20g
25g
Cholesterol
Less than
300mg
300mg
Potassium
2,400mg
2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate
300g
375g
Dietary Fiber
25g
30g

Which is pretty good, basically you don't have to worry about consuming this type of "pasta".

I also gave up rice, and found a noodle which is made out of beans, peas and water in the east indian food section and the grocery store.

Plus on top of all that , I also cut down on my sugars by buying diabetic treats for when I want to indulge in a sweet snack that doesn't come in the form of fruit. Yes chocolate, I didn't have to give it up.

I also gave up bread. Not totally, I will still use pita bread and occassionally12 grain bread when I really want it. But for the most part I don't really eat it anymore.

With the DASH DIET addins I kept the fruit, because I love fruit, and the DASH said thats ok, and I started to remove a lot of salt from my diet.

Now here's the catch, we all read lables right? Go look at the lable on a can of beans o veggy. Guess what it's loaded with SALT! I read lables for soups, sauces, you know the "extra" stuff", but I never thought to look a darn can of kidney beans! Hense why I switch to dried beans, lentils and peas. Less salt, much less.

Now cookig with dried foods really isn't that fussy. What i do is make a large batch at a time and freeze portions for future cooking. I use my slow cooker for this. I take a large bowl, mixed up 10 different dried varieties of beans, lentils and peas, soak them over night, drain, rince, then add several cups of no salt broth because the dried foods will pick up the flavor from the broth, then cook them in the slow cooker for 2 days on med heat. I just stir occassionally and make sure there is still enough broth in their for them to soften up. When I got my batch of dried foods ready I cool them down, divide them into cooking portions and freeze what i don't need right away. This way I don't have to go through that process everytime I want to cook something.

I include beans in almost everything I make now, and the water chestnuts are a great dieter's food too. They also pick up the flavors in which they are cooked in and go great in stir-frys and stew. You can get sliced or whole. I have only found them in a can so far.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 4 waterchestnuts (28g)
Amount Per Serving
Calories
14
Calories from Fat
0
% Daily Value*
Total Fat
0g
0%
Saturated Fat
0g
0%
Polyunsaturated Fat
0g
Monounsaturated Fat
0g
Cholesterol
0mg
0%
Sodium
2.2mg
0%
Potassium
33mg
1%
Total Carbohydrate
3.4g
1%
Dietary Fiber
0.7g
0%
Sugars
0.7g
0%
Protein
0.2g
0%
Vitamin A
0%
•
Vitamin C
1%
Calcium
0%
•
Iron
1%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs:
Calories:
2,000
2,500
Total Fat
Less than
65g
80g
Sat Fat
Less than
20g
25g
Cholesterol
Less than
300mg
300mg
Potassium
2,400mg
2,400mg
Total Carbohydrate
300g
375g
Dietary Fiber
25g
30g

I also switched all my dairy to low fat or partly skimmed. I drink diet pop, which eventually I will cut out completely, but I'm not ready for that right now.

At first it was a little frustrating eatting this way. I really didn't enjoy blanching and freezing 2 cases of tomatoes because the canned stuff had a ton of salt in it, but it was something I knew I had to do and eventually I will get use to all these changes.

For right now I am feeling better about this and the biggest thing and making sure I have plenty of good snacks around because on this diet you actually get to eat! I am also having a bit of a tough time going through the canned list and finding whole fresh food alternatives to prepare in advance so I can cut out more of the salt. I am taking it one step at a time and slowly making progress so eventually I will get there.

Basically what I am doing is trying to cut out all the salt in things I can controll and replace with easy solutions so I can have the salt that you still need each day , 500mg minimum and the max is based on your calorie needs. A 2000 cal diet requires only 2400mg's of salt per day. I guarantee you intake more then that each day if you are not watching the lables on everything.

To show you what i mean, I like Diet Coke, I am not prepared to give it up in the next year, I drink about a case a day and I am slowly cutting back but there is 50mg's of salt in each can. If i cut out 50mg's x how many cans I drink in a day, worth of salt in my foods diet then the salt in the pop which is labled sodium by the way, now has room for my intake each day. Same goes for the tomatoes, and the dried beans vs the canned beans. Eventually I will find myself a nice healthy balance of salt intake and my health concerns, which are very serious by the way, will calm down.

High blood preasure is not something you want to ignore, it's not called the "silent killer" for nothing. The MAYO CLINIC has a ton of good information on the subject that you should look into. You will be surprised and what you read and glad you educated yourself on the subject. You will also live longer and healthier if you follow their advice.

Thats all for now, thanks for dropping by, please check out the Mayo Clinic books I suggested at the top of the blog page. You might also want to look into the SOUTH BEACH DIET too, it was created by a doctor so their has to be some importance to that diet I would think. :)

147 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health

I just posted up a document I found written by a Dr in the download Recipe Index Wigget above. Called 147 Reasons Why Sugar Is Ruining Your Health.

10 Super Foods

According to the Center For Science In the Public Interest, these 10 foods are great for your health and guilt free.

Sweet Potatoes
A nutritional All-Star – one of the best vegetables you can eat. They're loaded with carotenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Mix in unsweetened applesauce or crushed pineapple for extra moisture and sweetness.

Grape Tomatoes
They're sweeter and firmer than other tomatoes, and their bite-size shape makes them perfect for snacking, dipping, or salads. They're also packed with vitamin C and vitamin A, and you also get some fiber, some phytochemicals, and (finally) some flavor.


Fat free, Skim or 1% Milk
Excellent source of calcium, vitamins, and protein with little or no arteryclogging fat and cholesterol. Soy milk can have just as many nutritients – if the company adds them.


Blueberries
They're rich in fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidents. Toss'em in cereal, stir'em in yogurt, or sprinkle them on low-fat ice cream.


Wild Salmon
The omega-3 fats in fatty fresh fish like wild salmon can help reduce the risk of sudden-death heart attacks. And salmon that is caught wild has less dioxin contaminant than farmed salmon.


Crispbreads
Whole-grain rye crackers, like Wasa, Ry Krisp, and Ryvita – usually called crispbreads – are loaded with fiber and often fat-free.


Microwaveable or 10 minute brown rice
Enriched white rice is nutritionally bankrupt. You lose the fiber, magnesium, vitamins E and B-6, copper, zinc, and who-knows-what phytochemicals that are in the whole grain. Try quickcooking or regular brown rice instead.


Citrus Fruit
Great-tasting and rich in vitamin C, folic acid, and fiber. Perfect for a snack or dessert. Try different varieties: juicy Mineola oranges, quicksnack clementines, or tart grapefruit.


Diced Butternut Squash
A growing number of food stores sell peeled, seeded, cut, and ready to go – into the oven, into a stir-fry, or into a soup or risotto, that is – bags of diced butternut squash. Every half cup has 5 grams of fiber and payloads of vitamins A and C.


Pre-cut, Pre-washed Bag of Greens
Greens like kale, spinach, and broccoli rabe are nutritional power houses. Most are loaded with vitamin C, carotenoids, calcium, folate, potassium, and fiber. Now it's easy to squeeze healthy greens into your busy schedule.

18 Foods You Should NEVER Eat

18 Foods You Should Never Eat

1. Cola drinks
The damage: (12 ounces) 150 calories, 0 g fat ,10 teaspoons of sugar. Full of sugar, corn syrup or other sweeteners , soft drinks pack 150 empty calories and have been pegged by research studies as being associated with both adult and childhood obesity, Cola drinks have the added detriment of a caffeine jolt that many of us just don't need. The super-sized 42-ounce version carries 410 calories .
"I recommend that patients stay away from sugar-sweetened beverages because these drinks may be replacing more healthful foods in the diet," says Cara Ebbeling, Ph.D., research associate at Children's Hospital in Boston. "In addition, there is evidence that when we take in calories in liquid form, the body doesn't fully compensate by reducing calories from other foods." In other words, your body doesn't register that you've just consumed a bunch of calories, because you don't feel full. This may lead to overeating.
Finally, sipping cola and other soft drinks bathes your teeth in cavity-promoting sugars -- whose effects continue up to 40 minutes after your last sip.
Healthy alternative Fruit spritzers (12 ounces): 0-15 calories, 0 g fat Sugar-sweetened beverages are easy to replace. Add a spritz of your favorite juice to flavored seltzer water or diet tonic water. Another idea: Add a few drops of vanilla extract to plain seltzer (steer clear of club soda, which contains sodium).
Or enjoy a can of your favorite flavor of diet soda or sugar-free iced tea or coffee. You save 135-150 calories, 0 grams fat

2. Sour cream and onion potato chips
The damage : (12 chips) 150 calories, 10 g fat (3 g saturated), 210 mg sodium . You eat empty calories, fat and sodium . When Manufacturers add sour cream and onion flavoring to chips -- You Eat extra saturated and trans fats and a dash of MSG.
Healthy alternative: Raw veggies with homemade yogurt dip (1/2 cup veggies with 1/4 cup dip): 72 calories, 0 g fat, 106 g sodium (Mix 1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt with 1 teaspoon fresh or dried herbs like parsley or dill. Add minced garlic or onion for extra zip.

3. Store-bought chocolate chip cookies
The damage : (1 small cookie) 80 calories, 4.5 g fat (1.5 g saturated) Commercial baked goods like snack cakes, cookies and crackers are the source of most of our trans fat intake. Some products are worse than others: If the label lists sugar, hydrogenated oil, white flour or a bunch of chemicals you don't undestand or can't pronounce, that product is especially bad for you. Healthy alternative Fig bars (1 small fig bar): 60 calories, 1 g fat Figs, like all dried fruit, can really hit the sweet spot. Fortunately, there are several brands that don't use hydrogenated oils. One to try: Newman's Own Organics Fig Newmans. Or make your own healthful cookies or muffins using whole-grain flour and canola oil. You save 20 calories, 3.5 g fat.

4.Full Fat Cheeses
The damage: (1 ounce) 120 calories, 9-10 g fat (6 g saturated) Cheese, butter and ice cream all contain saturated fat, which can lead to heart disease and other health problems. Full-fat cheeses can have as many as 10 grams of fat per ounce, with more than half of those grams saturated, dispite what we were told, cheese is not the healthier choice. Foods containing large amounts of cheese are loaded with saturated fats.
Healthy alternative Low fat ricotta (1/4 cup): 60 calories, 3 q fat No need to eat full-fat cheese when there are so many other acceptable dairy products: lowfat and fatfree ricotta and cottage cheese, skim milk or even plain yogurt (add your own fruit). You save 60 calories, 6-7 g fat.

5. Chocolate doughnuts
The damage (1 doughnut) 300 calories, 19 g fat (6 g saturated) All doughnuts are high in trans fat, sugar and calories. All doughnuts are bad for you but chocolate covered ones are worse, at 19 grams of fat per doughnut, with doughnut-shop varieties a close second at about 16 grams.
Healthy alternative Raisin toast with peanut butter (1 slice raisin toast and 1 tablespoon reduced-fat peanut butter): 166 calories, 7 g fat (1.5 g saturated) You save 134 calories, 13 g fat (4.5 g saturated).

6. Regular bacon
The damage (2 slices, cooked and drained) 120 calories, 10 q fat (3 g saturated) ,can lead to more than expanding thighs. Cured meats like bacon, corned beef, ham and pastrami contain preservatives called nitrates that have been linked to stomach and colon cancers.
Healthy alternative Vegetarian sausage (2 links, cooked and drained): 80 calories, 3 g fat (0.5 g saturated) Instead of bringing home the bacon, why not fry up some veggie links? Morningstar Farms makes delicious vegetarian alternatives to pork and beef sausage. Turkey bacon is also a much healthier choice than pork. You save 40 calories, 7g fat (2.5 g saturated).

7. Beef hot dogs
The damage (1 hot dog without bun) 180 calories, 16 q fat (7 g saturated), 550 mg sodium .The mystery meat," Dogs are almost always loaded with fat, pig and cow parts that are unusable in other meat products, plus sodium and nitrates. As a red meat, hot dogs also may increase cancer risk. And beef is a source of trans fat because cows hydrogenate fat in their stomachs.
Healthy alternative Ball Park turkey hot dog (1 turkey dog without bun): 45 calories, O g fat, 420mg sodium Ball Park Turkey Franks are unusually low in calories and sodium. Or try Applegate Farms, which has no nitrates or antibiotics. You save 135 calories, 16 q (at (7 g saturated), 130 trig sodium.

8. Chocolate truffles
The damage (I truffle) 220 calories, 13 q fat (11 q saturated) According to government statistics, Chocolate Truffles are responcible for 23 pounds per person, which is the equivalent of 184 candy bars. Chocolate truffles contain highly saturated palm or coconut oils, making them among the worst culprits in the candy department.
Healthy alternative Chocolate-covered strawberries (4 strawberries dunked in 1/4 cup lite chocolate syrup: 114 calories, O g fat; or Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Sorbet Bar: 80 calories, O g fat) When that sweet tooth beckons, try nature's candy: fruit. Strawberries will give you sweetness and crunch and save your waistline, while the syrup will satisfy your craving for chocolate. When only chocolate will do, a Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Sorbet Bar is guaranteed to satisfy your sweet tooth. You save 106 calories, 13 q fat (11 g saturated) with the chocolate-covered strawberries, and 140 calories and 13 q fat with the Haagen-Dazs Chocolate Sorbet Bar


This is a list of 10 foods you should never eat according to the Center For Scinence In The Public Interest.

Judging by the label, Pepperidge Farm Original Flaky Crust Roasted Chicken Pot Pie has 510 calories and 9 grams of saturated fat. But look again. Those numbers are for half a pie. Eat the entire pie, as most people probably do, and you're talking more than 1,000 calories and 18 grams of sat fat. Then add the 13 grams of hidden trans fat (from the partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening) in each pie and you're up to 31 grams of artery-clogging fat – that's far more than a day's allotment.

McDonald's Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips sounds healthy. In fact, ounce for ounce, the Selects are no healthier than the chain's Chicken McNuggets. A standard, fivestrip order has 630 calories and 11 grams of artery-clogging fat. That's about the same as a Big Mac, except the burger has 1,010 mg of sodium, while the Selects hit 1,550 mg, even without the salty sauce.

Each slice of The Cheesecake Factory's 6 Carb Cheesecake has 610 calories – that's the same as you'd get from a slice of their Original Cheesecake. Think of it as an 8-ounce prime rib for dessert – with 29 grams of saturated fat, 1½ days' supply. The next time you step on the bathroom scale, you may never know that the carbs were missing.

Dove squeezes some 300 calories and 8 to 13 grams of saturated fat (half-a-day's worth) into a tennis-ball size serving (half a cup) of its Dove Ice Cream. That puts it in the same ballpark as Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs. With names like "Unconditional Chocolate," Dove is trying to link chocolate with romance. A scoop of its ice cream will fill your heart all right … but not with love.

No one expects a Mrs. Fields cookie to be good for you, but who would guess that a single Mrs. Fields Milk Chocolate & Walnuts cookie has more than 300 calories and as much saturated fat as a 12-ounce sirloin steak? It's also got six teaspoons of sugar. If you can't resist Mrs. Fields, share the smallest bag of Nibblers (six half-ounce cookies) with a friend. Or walk a few feet and look for a piece of fruit at another store instead.

The Starbucks Venti (20 oz.) Caffè Mocha with whipped cream is more than a mere cup of coffee. Think of it as a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in a cup. Few people have room in their diets for the 490 calories and 16 grams of bad fat that this hefty beverage supplies. But you can lose all the bad fat and all but 170 calories if you order a tall (12 oz.) with nonfat milk and no whipped cream.

Unless you're suicidal, why on earth would you want to wolf down a Burger King Quad Stacker – 4 hamburger patties, 4 slices of cheese, 8 strips of bacon, plus sauce and a bun? That's half-a-day's calories (1,000), one-and-a-half-days' worth of saturated fat (30 grams), 3 grams of trans fat, and more than a day's sodium (1,800 mg). Urp!

Campbell's Chunky, Select, and red-and-white-label condensed soups are brimming with salt: Half a can averages more than half of a person's daily quota of salt. Instead, try brands like Healthy Choice and Campbell's Healthy Request, which have less than half as much sodium.

Interested in a Chipotle Chicken Burrito (tortilla, rice, pinto beans, cheese, chicken, sour cream, and salsa)? Think of its 1,180 calories and 19 grams of saturated fat as three 6-inch Subway Steak and Cheese Subs. Getting the burrito with no cheese or sour cream cuts the saturated fat by two-thirds, but you still end up with 950 calories. Yikes!

A Mint Chip Dazzler at Häagen-Dazs stores (three scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, Oreos, chocolate sprinkles, and whipped cream) has 1,270 calories and 38 grams of saturated fat – that's two days' worth. Think of it as a portable T-bone steak with Caesar salad, and baked potato with sour cream. But that's dinner – yet many people have a Dazzler as a dessert after lunch and dinner

List of Sugar Content in Common Foods

This list will grow as I find more sources.

Pepsi, 20 ounces: 28 teaspoons sugar

Orange soda, 20 ounces: 21.25 teaspoons

Starbucks Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino, 16 ounces: 20.25 teaspoons

Coca-Cola, 20 ounces: 16.25 teaspoons

McDonald's vanilla shake, 20 ounces: 12 teaspoons

Dannon Frusion Yogurt drink, 10 ounces: 11.75 teaspoons

Low-fat cherry yogurt, 8 ounces: 9 teaspoons

Gatorade, 20 ounces: 8.75 teaspoons

Capri Sun fruit juice drink, one pouch: 6.75 teaspoons

Homemade sweet tea, 16 ounces: 6 teaspoons (made with 1 cup sugar per gallon)

Snickers bar, 2.1 ounces: 5.75 teaspoons

Krispy Kreme doughnut, one glazed: 2.1 teaspoons