Posted by Sylvia on April 7th, 2007 — Posted in Misc
You don’t have to miss out on Easter treats just because you’ve sworn off sweets. I have found a lot of fun and cute food that’s healthy, too.
Easter eggs are fun to make — just a few drops of food colouring (or you could use natural dyes from food) mixed with vinegar will quickly dye the shells of hard-boiled eggs to make a pretty centrepiece and, later, a healthy snack. But you could make Chinese marbled eggs instead, using colours instead of tea. In Mama’s Kitchen has easy to follow instructions for making marbled eggs, just use food colouring and water instead of tea and soy sauce. I used cereal bowls, putting a few eggs in each, so that I could have lots of different colours.
The cutest easter rabbit I’ve seen this year is Easter brunch bunny bao on Just Hungry. They are wonderfully cute and we’ll be making it Sunday morning to serve for lunch.
Or you could follow Nigella Lawson’s example and make a simple spicy rabbit curry to serve as Hot Cross Bunny. Devilled Rabbit might do in a pinch.
And if it’s really got to be chocolate this Easter, why not check out Chocoblog! (We recommend adopting a look but don’t touch policy here!)
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Posted by Sylvia on April 2nd, 2007 — Posted in Misc, Recipes
Here at Endiet, we spend a lot of time looking for interesting new recipes to try out and it makes sense to share those with you. So, on an irregular basis, we’ll be posting some of those recipes and links to the food blogs where we found them.
If you have a recipe you think we should look at, or even run your own food blog that you’d like to see highlighted, feel free to drop a link in the comments section or email us at endiet@endiet.com and we’ll take a look.
Recipe Requirements:
- The recipe must be in a blog — professional sites get enough notice. We’re looking for real people making real food for real families.
- Must be available in full online, no registration required.
- Must not require extravagant cooking time. We don’t mind dishes that take longer if they can be prepared ahead but we’re talking weekday meals, not dinner party specials, here.
- Must not use specialist ingredients. That’s harder to define: what’s specialist in Birmingham may be common in Los Angeles and vice versa. However, if the recipe states that an item is easily available “at any good health food store” or “in your local asian specialist shop” then chances are it won’t be featured here.
- Must not use pre-processed produce. “Combine one packet of ready-made soup with sour cream and slather onto the frozen chicken nuggets” isn’t going to cut it. If it requires a name brand product as an ingredient, it’s probably not for us.
- Must use fresh, natural ingredients. Fruit. Vegetables. Meat fresh from the butcher. Chopped herbs, etc.
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Posted by Dom on February 26th, 2007 — Posted in Misc
Guest blogger Yuliana Hendarto takes a look at one of our personal favourite foods:
Chocolate. This must be one of the most delicious, lovely, fun and famous food on earth! Not only does chocolate tastes great, it has lots of nutritional and health benefits too! Lucky you.But before all of you rush out to the nearest convenience store and grab your chocolates, let’s take a look at these first:
Longevity
A Harvard medical studies consisting of 800 male graduates found that chocoholics have longer life span. This is probably due to high polyphenol level in chocolates, which is claimed to protect you again heart disease.However, many of the so-called chocolate bars today are so rich in sugar, milk and fat content that it’s just too unhealthy for large consumptions! So opt for good quality chocolates or dark chocolates. Avoid the ones with nuts for lower calorie, fat and cholesterol content and NEVER ever consider mars or snickers bars as chocolates. They’re candy bars. Period.
Acne
The popular belief says that chocolate causes acne. However, be rest assured that there is NO effect of eating chocolates whatsoever on your skin. In fact, haven’t you heard of chocolate spa treatments? From body wrap, scrubs, bath, hydroteraphy to massages, it’s said to be good for the skin and muscles.
Chocoholism
Apparently the word does not just signify someone who loves chocolate. Chocolate does have some addictive substances! These include sugar (didn’t think sugar is addictive huh?), theobromine, anandamide (an endogenous cannabinoid), tyroptophan, phenylethylamine, caffeine.
Phew. What a mouthful!
No worries. Simply put, theobromine causes the mood-elevating effect while tyroptophan plays a role in our nervous system to help regulate our mood. On the other hand, anandamide is internally and naturally produced by our body and has short-lasting effect. Altogether, the amount of these chemical substances found in chocolates is pretty minute such that the effect on us is rather negligible, aside from the happy feelings. However, take note that theobromine (and hence chocolates) can be fatal for our pets!
Here is a list of some fun facts about chocolates:
- The Mayans started drinking hot chocolate as far back as 2,600 years ago!! That is also the earliest record of Cacao use.
- Chocolate’s basic ingredients are the cocoa solids, cocoa fat and sugar.
- It is cacao trees and cacao pods, and becomes cocoa after the beans have been processed
- Chocolate was reserved for warriors, nobility and priests.
- The Aztec used cacao beans for their taxes: a slave cost 100 cacao beans and 12 for a courtesan’s service!!!
And to end this entry on a sweet note, here’s a fun link to a Chocolate Quiz!
Sources:
Related Link: Gourmet chocolate gift has always been a gift of choice for romantic couples. So next time your in love send a chocolate gift during those special occasions.
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Posted by Dom on January 31st, 2007 — Posted in Misc
Hello and welcome to Endiet - a shiny new food and diet blog!
Over the coming months, we’ll be posting lots of exciting recipe ideas and tips specially designed to give you a nudge in the right direction toward a healthy, balanced lifestyle. We will, of course, be covering some of the latest diet fads too, but we won’t be making any claims on their effectiveness - that’s up to you to decide for yourself.
But the most important thing to know about Endiet is that none of us are experts. We, like you, are learning this as we go along. So why not join us?
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