Tag Archives: fruit

Great Snacks To Take Everywhere

May 25, 2023 The Silo Leave a comment

It is late and you are on your way home, but there is no open store to get something to eat – does this scenario sound familiar?

Or it’s maybe early in the morning and you just pulled an all-nighter and you can hear your stomach making noises… Or you may be out in the middle of the street after your work and you forget to eat, and you are starting to feel dizzy.

Is this something that you can relate to? If yes, you know that you need to think about your diet.

It is easy to forget to eat when you have a busy day, especially when you are on the run with no store or restaurant around.

This is why strategic snacking should be part of your daily routine. If anything, you should think of snacks as something that literally saves your life when you are super hungry.

Let’s see how you can also have a delicious and easy-to-carry snack with you no matter the time of the year.

Drink Your Snack

Snacks should be healthy.

Yes, this may be easier said than done, but with so many options on the market, you can actually have a healthy snack.

For example, you don’t have to buy industrial pretzels if you can carry an apple with you, right?

Still, if even bringing an apple puts you under a lot of stress, you should think about an even easier solution, such as a drinkable yogurt: this sort of snack is a great source of lean protein, usually packed with vitamins and minerals such as calcium and vitamin D, packed with numerous flavors from banana to peach.

The great thing about drinkable yogurt is that you can mix it with other ingredients such as oats or use it as a dressing for your fruit salad. Fast and healthy!

Cheese And Whole-grain Crackers

Cheese and whole-grain crackers are a great snack idea if you want something that is easy to pack but enables bigger bites.

This is something that you can bite throughout the day and even use as an addition to a salad.

Spread cheese across crackers and you will have a quick snack in no time.

Beef Jerky

You cannot pull an entire day without meat? If so, you should plan ahead and think about having a meaty snack on you, such as beef jerky.

This is something that is a mandatory part of every road trip, but it can serve while you are at work as well.

Beef jerky is packed with protein, and as such, it is one of the best food items to keep your hunger under control.

If possible, choose organic, and grass-fed beef jerky from a local store, and avoid shopping for beef jerky from the gas station.

Did you know there are even tasty vegetarian jerky options?

You’ve got many snack choices to choose from once you start dealing with preparation.

In no time, you will discover that there are many food items that you can carry with you easily, throughout the day and eat as you go.

A little prep will be needed, but it’s nothing you won’t be able to handle.

Extra Seven Snacks To Take Everywhere

Berries
Nuts
Hard-boiled eggs
Protein bars
Carrots
Grapes
Dried fruits

Culture

How Cardiovascular Disease Connects To Inflammation

May 25, 2022 The Silo 3 Comments

I bet we all have someone near and dear to our heart, who has been touched by cardiovascular disease.

Public health and agencies such as Heart and Stroke Society have done an excellent job highlighting some of the key factors that are risk factors to cardiovascular disease. These risk factors can include hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, alcohol, smoking, and stress.

An overarching factor that exists within all of these risk factors is; inflammation.

Inflammation can be defined as “the body’s attempt at self-protection; the aim being to remove harmful stimuli, including damaged cells, irritants, or pathogens – and begin the healing process.” The symptoms of inflammation are represented as heat, redness, swelling and pain.

There have been links made between chronic inflammation and some cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, atherosclerosis, periodontitis and hay fever.

One of the key modifiable factors affecting inflammation that has been researched is diet. Meals that are contain excess calories and inflammatory fats have been linked to causing spikes in c-reactive protein, a measureable maker of inflammation. The Standard American Diet has been linked to higher inflammation rates due to the higher intake of omega 6 fatty acids compared to omega 3. In contrast the Mediterranean Diet has been linked to lower inflammation levels due to higher content of omega 3 fatty acids, low glycemic foods, higher amounts of carotenoids and flavonoids found abundantly in fruits and vegetables.

Excess body fat is also a component of inflammation as it a factory for inflammatory cytokines within the body, resulting in higher levels of inflammation. A study of postmenopausal women who where overweight or obese who lost 5% or more of their body weight had measurable decreases to their inflammation levels.

Type 2 diabetes, the result of insulin resistance also has its roots deep in inflammation. Again research has shown that more fat cells in the body result in a cascade of cellular signalling within the immune cells that results in inflammation.

In the case of acute inflammation such a healing cut finger, physical symptoms would be typical; heat, swelling, redness and pain. Chronic inflammation does not display these same symptoms, instead havoc on the cardiovascular system can go undetected. The process of atherosclerosis, the origin of cardiovascular disease is a result of the activation of the immune system during inflammation leading deposition and accumulation of cholesterol and tissue along the cardiovascular system.

From a preventative health standpoint it is important to combine the current treatment of cardiovascular health treatment with strategies to reduce inflammation.

Naturopathic Medicine as a preventative form of treatment has many options available to decrease overall inflammation within the body and can be used alongside conventional medical treatments. For the Silo, Ashley Beeton.

Reviews

Finest Coffee And Coconut Oil From Dominican Republic

January 28, 2022 The Silo Leave a comment

Everyone already knows Kimera Koffee’s for its finest ground coffee, highest quality beans, and some of the best flavors on the market. Now Kimera Koffee is growing the family with its limited edition Phase 1 Peaberry Whole Bean Koffee and Kimera Koconut Oil.

The Kimera Koffee Pase 1 Peaberry Whole Bean Koffee is grown in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Using some of the finest beans, this blend uses the plants’ yield of 3%-5% peaberry beans, each hand selected and sorted. Peaberry beans are unique in that they are the only bean in the cherry (rather than two), therefore receiving all of the plant’s nutrients in a concentrated dose.

Peaberry beans roast differently partly because they have a single coffee bean within a single coffee cherry (fruit), instead of the usual two half-beans per cherry.

Peaberry beans are regarded as naturally sweeter, more aromatic, and more pleasant in taste than regular coffee beans.

This limited edition flavor packs a punch to your morning routine with some of the freshest, most potent whole beans you can find.

Kimera’s other new addition is the Kimera Koconut Oil. This handcrafted, pure coconut oil is sure to pack a delicious punch with any drink or cooking need. Kimera’s Koconut Oil is extra virgin and cold pressed, giving you the finest, most high quality oil on the market. The oil is non-GMO and unrefined for the best flavor and potency money can buy.

As well as Kimera Koffee’s dedication to proving the high quality products on the market, they are aslo are proud supporters of the Belarminio Ramirez Foundation, which uses their donations to provide school materials, clothes, food, and basic household appliances to communities in the Dominican Republic’s farming towns. Every Kimera Koffee purchase helps aid this fight for a better future. Featured image- cronkite.asu.edu For the Silo, Katie Lapinski.

Kimera Koffee can be purchased online through their website at kimerakoffee.com or Amazon, as well as at select retailers in the USA, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Supplemental- The many great health benefits, both physical and mental, of MCT Oil vs Coconut Oil.

Gourmet Coffee Lovers: What is a peaberry?

Culture

Winners And Losers Around The World In School Lunches

February 3, 2020 The Silo Leave a comment

School has ‘been in’ for awhile now. Does your child’s school lunches sound healthy to you? How do you think it compares to school dinners from around the world? And how much do school meals affect energy levels for post-lunch learning and does that have an impact on PISA test results?

Check out this infographic to discover what the school meals of other countries look like and how each nation scores on the PISA test. For the Silo, Dinah Makani.

around the world in school lunchboxes infographic — CLICK ME to visit this graphic’s sponsor 🙂

Reviews

Cookbook Provides Uncomplicated Yet Sophisticated Cooking for Everyday

January 11, 2018 The Silo Leave a comment

Award-winning cookbook author, Lee Clayton Roper, shows home cooks how to explore their culinary creativity with her award-winning, delicious cookbook, Fresh Tastes. This beautiful book delivers over 170 flavorful recipes, essential cooking tips and delightful stories to spark inspiration in your kitchen.

Lee takes the “complicated” out of timeless classics, simplifying the process while ramping up flavors, using fresh ingredients when and where possible. She shares personal reflections on lessons she has learned in the kitchen from those who have inspired her, along with 65 beautiful food photos, along with process shots of key preparation steps.

Fresh Tastes epitomizes Lee’s culinary tastes, balancing an innovative approach with uncomplicated preparation techniques. Sophisticated in flavor and beautiful to present, the recipes in Fresh Tastes are prepared with the best quality, readily available ingredients designed to maximize flavor. Some of Lee’s delicious recipes include:

Prosciutto, Fig and Goat Cheese Tarts

Roasted Eggplant and Tomato Soup

Tomato and Peach Salad with Lime-Balsamic Dressing

Layered Salmon Salad with Avocado-Lime Yogurt Dressing

Grilled Rosemary-Dijon Chicken Breasts

Spicy Pork Chops with Argentine Chimichurri Sauce

Halibut with Celery Root Puree and Tomato Garnish

Chipotle Lime Shrimp Tacos with Tomato Mango Salsa

Roasted Root Vegetable Pot Pie

Peruvian Artichoke Tart

Pear Kuchen

Fresh Fruit with Brandy Custard Sauce

Drawing from her decades of experience, Lee provides readers with helpful advice on what is best for the dish, the flavor and the cook, considering such essential variables as seasonality and availability. Recipes in Fresh Tastes were evaluated by a team of volunteer testers across the country. Only the best, most flavorful, eye catching dishes made the cut. Fresh, flavorful and inspired, this collection of hand selected recipes in Fresh Tastes transcends the kitchen, reminding us all that every meal can and should be a simple yet sophisticated celebration of life.

“My approach with this cookbook starts with the confidence that, with the right preparation and a pinch of creativity, every dish can be extraordinary,” Lee explains. “I have intentionally kept recipes and ingredients easy to get, often providing alternative substitutions.”

Lee Clayton Roper is an award-winning cookbook author, cooking instructor, public speaker and TV personality. Her first book, A Well-Seasoned Kitchen received numerous rave reviews and is often featured in local and national press. In 2010, A Well-Seasoned Kitchen achieved national acclaim, winning the prestigious “Living Now” gold medal. With Fresh Tastes Lee expands her recipe collection, serving up fresh, delicious and sophisticated dishes guaranteed to inspire creativity in kitchen everywhere. Lee tours the country sharing recipes and cooking tips and techniques in sold-out classes, leading cooking demonstrations, and is a frequent guest on radio and television and in print.

“Roper’s follow up to A Well-Seasoned Kitchen expands on the approachable favorites that made her first cookbook such a hit, this time with a ‘fresh’ take on classics that lend themselves to parties and get-togethers. This is a solid effort with practical dishes readers will likely find themselves returning to.”

Publisher’s Weekly and Entertaining Inspiration

FRESH TASTES

From A Well-Seasoned Kitchen

By Lee Clayton Roper

Southwestern Publishing Group

Hardcover/$34.95 usd

ISBN-13: 978-0984116362

Try these fresh and delicious recipes ( reprinted with permission from Fresh Tastes by Lee Clayton Roper):

APPLE, WALNUT AND STILTON CHEESE SALAD

SERVES: 6

The British have known for years that apples and Stilton cheese are a wonderful combination. In this delicious salad, they’re mixed together with spinach, walnuts and a walnut-flavored vinaigrette.I like to serve this salad with any grilled meat or alone as a meal.

1/4 cup raspberry balsamic vinegar*

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup walnut oil*

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

10 ounces mixed baby greens (spinach, arugula, lettuce)

2 large Gala or other red apples, unpeeled, cored and chopped

1 cup (6 ounces) chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

1 1/2 to 2 cups (6 to 8 ounces) Stilton cheese, crumbled**

*If you can’t find raspberry balsamic vinegar, use regular raspberry vinegar and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey. If you can’t find walnut oil, substitute olive oil and add a few more walnuts.

**There are 2 types of Stilton cheese: blue and white. Either will work in this recipe. If you can’t find Stilton, you can substitute Gorgonzola or other forms of blue cheese.

In a medium glass jar with fitted lid (an empty Dijon mustard jar works well), whisk together the vinegar, lemon juice and oil until well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together mixed greens, chopped apple, walnuts and cheese. Just before serving, toss with just enough dressing to coat the lettuce (you may have some dressing left over). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

VARIATION IN PRESENTATION: If you want to have a more formal, individually plated salad, then instead of chopping the apples, core and slice them. Toss the greens with part of the dressing and divide among six individual salad plates. Arrange the apple slices in a circular pattern over the spinach. Sprinkle the walnuts and cheese crumbles over the top. Drizzle with remaining dressing.

SEA BASS WITH A PISTACHIO CRUST

SERVES: 6

This dish comes together quickly and is delicious paired with green beans and roasted potatoes. It’s a bit on the rich side, so I suggest using fillets no more than 5 ounces each. If using one large fillet, you may need to increase the cooking time by a few minutes.

While the general rule of thumb for cooking fish is 10 minutes per inch of thickness, I’ve included the option to cook these filets for 12 minutes per inch. I find that with the crust on top, it can take a bit longer. It’s really to your taste — just remember, it will continue cooking after you take it out of the oven and let it rest.

6 (4- to 5-ounce) skinless Chilean sea bass fillets

1 cup salted, dry roasted pistachio nuts, very finely chopped (can chop in a food processor)

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan with parchment paper.

Place sea bass fillets in prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine the nuts, sugar, lemon juice, dill and pepper. Spoon the mixture evenly over each fillet, pressing down to adhere.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes per 1-inch of thickness of the fillet, or until fish reaches 140 to 145 degrees when measured with an instant-read thermometer. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

MAKE AHEAD: Fish with topping can be prepared but not baked up to 4 hours in advance, covered and refrigerated.

For the Silo, Trina Kaye.