Lessons from the Lunch-Box- 5 Kid-Friendly Parent-Approved Lunches

Let’s face it: trying to get out the door in the morning can be a challenge, especially come fall which means back-to-school.  Between running around the house looking for the shoe that the dog hid, trying to herd the children into the car, and somehow managing to look presentable by the time you get out the door, often times packing a lunch, let alone a healthy one, is a challenge.  Take a new approach: pack your lunch at the same time you pack the kiddos’ either the night before or while they’re eating breakfast.  Here are 5 lunches that you can make in a snap that are healthy options for both you and your little one. It is as simple as these four steps:

1) grab both the little cartoon lunchbox and your eco-friendly re-usable lunch tote
2) assemble the lunches below and make 2: 1 for them + 1 for you

3) toss in a few extras for you – bigger people need a bit more than the little ones

4) optional: toss in a little lunch note for the critter to brighten their day…and off you go!

NOTE: we recommend using fun names – a recent Cornell University study on 186 four year olds found that when were given carrots called “x-ray vision carrots” they ate nearly twice as many as they did when they were simply called “carrots”. 

Nut Butter + Banana Jammer                                                                                                      

whole wheat bread with 2 tbsp almond/peanut butter, sugar-free jelly, and  ½ sliced banana
1/2c sugar snappers (sugar snap peas)
A little extra for you: other ½ banana, extra 1/2c peas

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“Chilled” Cheese + Cherry Tomato Squirters                                                                      

whole wheat bread toasted with light mayo or mustard and  ½ can tuna
1/2c cherry tomatoes 
1/4c choco-rocks (dark chocolate raisins)         
A little extra for you: extra 1/2c tomatoes, 2 slices reduced-fat cheese (make it a melt!)                                

Turkey-Lurkey Logs + Broccoli Trees                                                           

whole wheat tortilla with sliced turkey and reduced-fat cheese (all rolled up)
1c raw broccoli florets + non-fat ranch
 little cup of apple saucers (sugar-free applesauce)               
A little extra for you: 1c spinach in the wrap, extra 1/2c broccoli

Dippers Delight           

grilled chicken fingers, 1/2c assorted raw veggies, sliced whole wheat pita bread, and hummus or non-fat ranch dip
½ sliced apple and non-fat greek yogurt with cinnamon + splenda/stevia
A little extra for you: other ½ apple, extra 1/2c veggies

Super-Spy Sammy + X-RAY Vision Carrots                                                   

egg salad on whole wheat english muffin made with non-fat mayo/mustard/relish and spinach
reduced-fat string cheese
1/2c baby carrots
A little extra for you: apple, extra 1/2c carrots

These five healthy, quick-assembly lunches are easy enough so the children can help you make them, which is fun for them and gives you an opportunity to teach them about making nutritious food choices.  So the mornings may still be a bit crazy, but rest-assured, you and your little one will have a stress-free lunch (packed with love) come lunch time.

Dining in Kota Kinabalu – From Fine Dining to Nibbling on the Pavement in Style

As one of the leading commercial and economic hubs of East Malaysia, it is not surprising that Kota Kinabalu is a popular tourist destination. Its scenic beauty and well planned settings make it an eye catching sight from the waves of the South China Sea. Being the homeland for a number of ethnicities, an assortment of victuals can be found easily. From gourmet food to corner shop flavours and hawker’s stalls, Kota Kinabalu is blessed with it all.

For those who just love delectable Indian cuisine, the Anjappar Chettinad Restaurant is the perfect place. ‘Dosai’, ‘chapathi’ and ‘kulcha’, accompanied by a spicy cottage cheese curry or an authentic chick-pea curry will leave your tastebuds craving for more. The Kohinoor North Indian Restaurant is the kind which will suit any occasion. From treating your business client, to partying with your family, this restaurant and its Indian chefs are well geared.

If you yearn for cheesy pizzas or aromatic pastas and lasagnes, Little Italy is the place for you. Its cozy atmosphere and brightly lit restaurant has won the hearts of all its customers the world over. The King Hu Restaurant serves some of the best Chinese dishes in Malaysia and is well received by foreigners and locals alike.

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Drift away in to a world of food at the Kamoung Nelayan Floating Seafood Restaurant where you will be entertained by cultural performances and treated to a host of fresh seafood and appetizing dishes. The restaurant itself is anchored in a botanical garden, which adds to the aura and ambience, making it a place where your romances can bloom. If you’re not the sea going kind, revolve in the air at ‘Atmosphere’, the restaurant on the 18th floor of Menara Tun Mustapha. Feast your eyes to the beauties of the South China Sea and Mount Kinabalu, while indulging on the delicacies they serve.

Once you have had your fair share of fine dining and formal restaurants, you may also want to take a stroll down the roads to savour the ambrosial food of the hawker’s stalls. Specially if you are busy shopping at any of the shopping malls or at a fair, these corner shops come in handy to satisfy your hunger pangs and generally the food tastes great.

Even if your only motivation to visit Kota Kinabalu is to dine and wine it will still be worth it, particularly if you spend your days at a hotel in Kota Kinabalu or get yourself pampered at a Kota Kinabalu resort. If it’s an absolute holiday you wish for, Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa Kota Kinabalu is the among the best spots for accommodation.

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Sushi Japanese Cuisine Delivery From Restaurants And Bar In Central London UK Geared For Dining

There are other Japanese forms of expression that diners at the melovesushi restaurants in central London can use when conversing with the Itamae or Japanese sushi chef at a respective sushi bar or at any of the three restaurants. These expressions or forms of initiating the conversation with the Itamae include sayings such as Konichiwa which means ‘this day’ but colloquially means ‘hello’ or ‘good day’. Oishii means yummy or delicious. Okonomi means ordering sushi a few pieces at a time. Omakase means the chef’s choice and means the style of dining that gives the chef the prerogative to choose what to serve the diner or diners based on what he or she feels best represents his or her skills and what type of food and sushi is available at that time.

Diners at the Japanese sushi restaurants in London owned and managed by melovesushi can also say Gochisou Sama Deshita which translated means it was a feast and is a saying that is often used during conversations. Oishikatta Desu means it was delicious and this saying or expression is not often used in conversations with the Itamae. There are many ways or techniques that can be used by Japanese sushi chefs or Itamaes’ when preparing sushi. One technique that is used is to cut the Japanese cuisine or food in certain ways so that it is more appealing to the eye of the diner when they receive the food from the Japanese waiter or waitress. The visual impact of the food or sushi on the diner is just as important as the taste of the food on the palate of the diner.

Diners at the melovesushi Japanese cuisine restaurants in London will be pleased to know that sushi and the eating of sushi is not a new and or mysterious technique and food respectively to westerners frequenting the sushi bar or Japanese restaurants around the world. However, that being said, the dining etiquette and the actual physical presence of raw fish or sushi as a meal, to be eaten, still remains a mystery to many people. Sushi items that are uncommon can also be served up in numerous of strange ways and there are new types of fish and other foods that are emerging and being placed on menus every day. As sushi continues to become more accepted and fashionable outside Japan, Japanese cuisine is becoming more varied and new food items are being seen in the less conventional sushi restaurants on a regular basis.

Visit Sushi Japanese Cuisine Delivery Restaurants Bar In Central Londonto order your sushi delivery.

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Sushi Japanese Cuisine Delivery From Restaurants And Bar In Central London UK Accessible For Dining

The next etiquette while eating Japanese sushi at any of the three melovesushi London restaurants, that diners should be aware of, is that when they have ordered Nigiri zushi they should first pick up the sushi and dip the fish or neta into their shoyu and not the rice because the rice will absorb too much of the shoyu. The rice acts just like a sponge and too much shoyu will overwhelm the taste of the dish as well as the possibility of the rice falling into the diner’s shoyu dish and creating soup which is not the desired result. This might seem common sense but do not take a piece of sushi form another person’s plate with the same end of the chopsticks that you place in your mouth when eating.

People eating Japanese sushi at the central London restaurants managed and administered by melovesushi should then only pick up sushi form another person’s plate with the end of the chopsticks that are usually positioned in the palms of their hands, as these ends have not entered their mouths. This is the polite, correct and accepted way of doing it in a Japanese restaurant. Diners eating sushi should also eat Nigiri sushi in one bite. However, as we all know, this is not always possible and practical to do in North America as some of the Japanese restaurants and related chefs make very large pieces of sushi in that area. That being said, the traditional Itamae Japanese sushi chef will always prepare and serve ‘one bit’ pieces of sushi.

People eating Japanese cuisine and more specifically sushi should know that garlic, or Gari, is regarded as a palate cleanser by the Japanese sushi chefs and should therefore only be eaten between single bites of sushi or between bites of different types of sushi. The point here is that ginger should not be consumed at the same time as the sushi is consumed. Slurping is only accepted if one is eating Japanese noodles. It is tolerated when eating soup but more accepted when eating noodles. Diners’ who are not given a spoon to eat their soup with, by the waiter or waitress, must make sure that they do not ask for one because the diner is expected to pick their soup bowls up in their hands and to then drink their soup from the bowl. It is acceptable and standard etiquette for diners to use their chopsticks to move the more solid pieces that are in the soup into their mouths.

Visit Sushi Japanese Cuisine Delivery Restaurants Bar In Central Londonto order your sushi delivery.

To learn more about the Sushi Japanese Cuisine Delivery Restaurants Bar In Central London offered by Me Love Sushi visit this link Sushi Japanese Cuisine Delivery Restaurants Bar In Central London.

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Learning Easy Cooking Recipes From Around The World

There are many different areas that make every country around the world unique somehow. The language, traditions, beliefs, clothing and foods all make up these very individual cultures. It is possible to sample different countries through books, movies, language classes and easy cooking recipes without ever leaving your home or city. This is certainly something that you and your family can enjoy and experience together.

It may not be as simple a task as you thought to decide which easy cooking recipes to try. There are so many tasty ethnic foods to enrapture your taste buds with. You may never go back to the same old meatloaf and mashed potatoes again. It could be fun and educational to create theme nights around these newly found easy cooking recipes.

Give the Globe a Yummy Spin

Begin your food sojourn in beautiful and exotic Africa with an easy cooking recipe for Chicken Couscous. Just wait until you begin to smell the delicious aromas of chicken, sweet limejuice and zesty garlic, as it will be enough to make your mouth water buckets. Garbanzo beans, artichoke hearts and raisin couscous ensure this easy cooking recipe to be a definite favorite.

Next, head to the Far East and sample some of the oldest and healthiest easy cooking recipes. While you might be tempted to conjure up a batch of fried rice and spicy chicken that would make General Tso blow his top, your taste buds will have more fun with a sweet and sour stir fry or even a teriyaki cabbage stir fry. Many popular Asian recipes call for duck instead of chicken, which is still poultry, but a slightly tastier alternative.

A food trip around the world would not be complete without a night in Tuscany. Or even Rome. While spaghetti has been a family dinner favorite for many years, there are many more amazing Italian dishes that remain undiscovered treasures for your stomach. Give your family something really different on this night with an easy cooking recipe for Lamb Chops Scottadito. The succulent taste of lamb paired with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary will draw a chorus of praises.

Easy French cooking is as delicious as springtime in Paris. It is not all chocolates, croissants and red wine though. The French love food and love preparing it. Follow their lead with dishes that entwine eggplant, asparagus, potatoes and the tastiest herbs in the Western Hemisphere. Stew Provencale is rich and full of flavor, just like the French countryside where it was created and remains so very popular.

Ching He Huang/Chinese Food Made Easy/Cooking for family ‘Lion head’ meatballs www.chinghehuang.com itunes.apple.com www.amazon.co.uk Ching makes a dish named after the way it’s served, surrounded by Chinese cabbage: the meatball is said to resemble a lion’s head, while the cabbage is the lion’s mane. Ingredients For the meatballs 500g/1lb 2oz beef mince 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 tbsp grated fresh root ginger 2 spring onions, finely chopped pinch sea salt 1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry (or more, to taste) 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 1 free-range egg, beaten 1 tbsp cornflour pinch ground white pepper For the finished dish 100ml/3½fl oz groundnut oil 750ml/1¼ pint vegetable stock 300g/11oz Chinese leaf, quartered lengthways 3 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, then drained (alternative use fresh chestnut mushrooms, sliced) 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tbsp cold water (optional) sea salt and ground white pepper 2 large spring onions, sliced dash sesame oil (optional) Method 1. For the meatballs, place all of the meatball ingredients into a large bowl and stir to combine. 2. With damp hands, take a large mound of the minced meat mixture and mould into a ball that is a little larger than a golf ball. Place on a plate and repeat with the remaining meatball mixture. 3. For the finished dish, pour the groundnut oil into a large deep pan and heat over a high heat. Using a metal ladle …

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Useful Advise from Restaurant Owners and Implement Their Restaurant Creative Suggestions – Understand How to Start a Restaurant

Every ambitious man thinks of becoming a successful businessman in his life. The restaurant business, is one such profitable business which can make your dream of living a lavish lifestyle come true. To understand how to start a restaurant, go through this article which might clear most of your doubts. Being a successful restaurateur is not a child’s play. It requires a lot of hard work, patience and ability to take right decisions at the right time. Initially, you may not do well in your business as a restaurateur as competing with established restaurants in your locality might eat up your business. Do not get disheartened over these initial failures as the one who will keep trying sincerely is bound to succeed. Many people are confused about how to start a restaurant business. Given below are some tips to start a restaurant business.

Arranging for Capital and Completing Legal Formalities

Arranging for sufficient capital to start a restaurant business is the main problem for most of the budding restaurateurs. You can take a business loan from a reputed bank, which offers cash credit facility on a low rate of interest. Take advantage of the various new and attractive schemes floated by the banks for start-up businessmen. You can also consider starting a restaurant on a partnership basis, wherein you will share the costs and profits with your business partner. If you are opting for a partnership, do sign an agreement with your partner before starting the business. You should have a license and a no-objection certificate from the local authorities to start your dream restaurant. Failing to do so may lead to serious legal complications. Design your restaurant business plans as per your budget. You should also .

Choosing Location and Designing Infrastructure of the Restaurant

The location of the restaurant is very important, as restaurants in prime city locations do much more business than those in the outskirts of the city. Remember that your restaurant should be easily accessible from all regions of your city. If you do not have money to start a restaurant business in the suburbs, you should start it in an area which is developing rapidly, so that you get excellent returns for your investment after a few years.

The look of the restaurant should be such that people should be impressed at the first sight, as first impression is the last impression! If your budget is high, you can go for marble flooring, attractive pictures, plush interiors like POP’s, in-built lights and a discotheque and a bar. However, it is possible to lure the customers even with a simple and systematic look of the restaurant. Use good quality chairs, tables, spoons, dishes, etc. to give the customers a nice experience for their expenditure. Hospitality is an important factor of this business. You should appoint good waiters and kitchen staff and train them well in the areas of cleanliness, professionalism and politeness. Make sure that your visitors feel comfortable and happy in your restaurant. Ensure that your restaurant has ample and good water supply, gas supply, exhausts and efficient security systems. Try and include all the popular food items to avoid limitations for your business. It is recommended that you should be present at the cash counter everyday, at least till the time your business gets settled, to ensure that everything is going as per the planning.

Proper Advertising and Quality Check

Advertising about your restaurant in the local newspapers, in a proper way, can draw the attention of people and generate interest in them about your new venture. If affordable, invite a celebrity to inaugurate your restaurant. Maintaining the quality of food is very important, if you want to survive in these days of cut-throat competition. Take every possible care to satisfy your customers. Hopefully, the above suggestions will answer your basic question – how to start a restaurant business.

It is wise to revise the business growth strategies as per the changing situations. Also, be aware of the latest trends in the industry. For example, include extra food items in your menu card specially for occasions like Christmas. Take some useful advise from other restaurant owners and implement their creative suggestions.

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Simple Chicken in Marinade – Cooking Tips from Momma

Article taken from http://mommaexplains.blogspot.com

Momma likes to have chicken but it is bland unless you can release those hidden flavors.

Momma Explains: Chicken is a meat that is best juicy but the trick is cooking it until it is safely done with out drying it out. A meat thermometer is essential when cooking any meat but especially chicken and pork which can make you seriously ill if under done. I like to marinate chicken for several minutes or an hour if I have the time. Since most of my family prefers white meat, I make this recipe with breasts. Breasts that have the bone in and skin on will stay more moist. If you use boneless and skinless cook them just until done and check them often. This chicken dish is great with a Riesling from Germany, especially a 2006, it was a good year.

Momma’s Chicken in Marinade: This recipe may be adapted for any chicken amount, it is all about coverage. So if you are only cooking two chicken breasts then use less of everything, if you are cooking more than 4, use more. I place the bone in, skin on, breasts in a plastic seal able bag, add enough orange juice mixed equally with Italian dressing to cover the chicken. You should premix the OJ and Italian dressing in a bowl or pitcher and then dump in the bag. I add about 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/2 tsp oregano to the mixture as well. Let marinate for about 30 minutes if possible. After the chicken marinates, coat a roasting pan with olive oil, there should be a layer of olive oil in the bottom of the pan, just enough to cover the very bottom of the chicken. Take the chicken out of the marinade and place in the olive oil. I spoon some of the marinade onto the top of the chicken and then grate orange rind to sprinkle on the top as well. Just a sprinkling will do. Bake the chicken at about 350 F for 40 minutes. ( Boneless breasts may take a shorter amount of time) Your oven cooking speed and chicken breast size will vary so check the chicken, it may be done sooner or later. Use that meat thermometer. Some people find that cooking the chicken at a lower temp helps retain the moisture. You know how your oven functions, so adjust the temperature accordingly. Side dishes often include rice and steamed veggies or a salad. Enjoy this simply refreshing chicken dish.

My recipes: www.youtube.com
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No Small Potatoes- How to Reduce Food & Packaging Waste From School Lunches

In spite of many thoughtful and forward-thinking updates in schools, school design, and classroom curriculum, grade school cafeterias haven’t changed significantly in the past 50 years. School kids are still either buying their lunch, which they receive on a tray (“hot lunch”); or they bring lunch from home (“cold lunch”). School lunches often include a self-serve salad bar with a nice variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain rolls; a healthy improvement over years past. However, an enormous amount of good food goes to waste: whole sandwiches, uneaten fruit, unopened cups of yogurt and applesauce, and untouched bags of chips have all been found in waste audits performed at local schools.

Unfortunately, these schools were not unique.  A comprehensive study from Great Britain recently revealed that one third of all food purchased is thrown away, of which 61% could have been eaten. Other studies have found that in the U.S., an estimated 40% to 50% of all food ready for harvest never gets eaten. The average family of four throws away nearly 0 a year in edible meats, vegetables, fruit, and grain products.

Returning to the grade school waste audit, it was revealed that 17% of the trash generated at the school was food waste and 24% was food-packaging waste.  Other schools have found that up to one third of their trash stream is comprised of food waste. Considering that the schools have to pay both for the wasted food AND the waste management, addressing how food comes to the schools and what happens to it is worth a closer look.

So what can be done to stem the tide of good food gone landfill?

Start at the beginning: reduce what is provided for lunch. While free-choice salad bar offerings are an excellent idea, kids often take more than they can eat in one sitting. Signs and classroom guidance can help everyone remember to “take what you want, but eat what you take.” Cold lunch diners can also usually bring less food and still be satisfied – read on for more details.

Pass it on: have a “no thanks” table. Anything brought from home that is unopened, such as yogurt cups, bags of chips, granola bars, applesauce cups and the like can be dropped off at a “no thanks” table where other kids can find something they like. Although there are some issues such as allergy concerns and the stigma associated with “the used food table”, they are not insurmountable. Food left over at the end of each day would be welcomed at a shelter or food bank.

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Tackle the tabletop culture: use reusable containers. It has been observed that when a sack lunch is packed in baggies and disposables, any leftover food – like a whole sandwich – is seen as disposable, just like the containers it came in. The same holds true for prepackaged foods, like chips, crackers or cookies in single-serve bags. However, when lunch is packed in reusable containers, uneaten food is returned to the container and put back in the lunch box. This has several immediate and valuable benefits: first, based on the quantities that come home after school, portions can be adjusted accordingly. Second, if there is any leftover food, it usually becomes a ready-made after-school snack (assuming the lunch box has an ice pack to keep everything fresh till mid-afternoon).

It was recently revealed that milk cartons, contrary to common wisdom and due in part to the current economic downturn, usually do not get recycled when they are pulled out of the waste stream but are instead thrown out with the rest of the trash. Furthermore, kids rarely drink the full eight ounces of milk they provide, resulting in additional waste. Schools should consider investing in washable cups and a milk dispenser, both to eliminate the single-use cartons and to reduce the wasted milk. This also has its own issues, one of which is the time necessary to wash the cups after use. Again, this isn’t insurmountable, but may only be a shift in behavior away from stocking the refrigerated milk case to handling the wash. Students themselves can fill the dishwasher trays as well.

Address the school culture: have recess before lunch. Many schools report that cafeteria time is frequently cut short because kids are in a rush to go to recess. The result is that many kids never eat at all, and spend the afternoon hungry and unable to concentrate. Several school districts throughout the U.S. have implemented a reverse strategy: kids go directly to recess for their mid-day break, after which they return to the cafeteria for lunch, where they stay until it’s time to return to the classroom. Reports from Montana schools indicate that “recess before lunch” programs improved student behavior on the playground, in the cafeteria, and in the classroom and resulted in less wasted food. One middle school reported a 50% drop in “plate waste” (food thrown away), and a decrease of 60% in disciplinary actions related to the lunchroom over a three year period. The teachers also reported better concentration and more effective time management with the recess before lunch program.

Finish at the end: offer composting. Some food waste is just that – inedible parts, like banana peels, eggshells and coffee grounds. Many schools have introduced compost bins to help manage these leftover bits, often in association with school garden projects.

As with any change, the usual guidance applies: find advocates among the school staff and parents; research where similar strategies have been attempted and consider whether the results would apply at your own school; consider how every step in a new program might impact classroom time, staff time, and staff resources; and communicate, communicate, communicate to students, parents, teachers, and staff.

Schools are embracing, and teaching, a refreshing environmental message, but they could drive that message home if they applied it to the simplest of everyday activities such as eating lunch. By reducing food and food packaging waste, families and schools alike save money both by reducing the loss of good food to landfills and by avoiding having to pay for its disposal. In today’s budget-conscious home and school economic conditions, that’s no small potatoes.

Since 2001 all Indian primary schools have provided pupils with a free midday meal. Seven years on truancy rates have been slashed, and child health is soaring. Western governments are taking note. “Compared to ours, today’s generation is better off,” explains a cook at one school we visited. Vijay Bhaskar agrees, he is the food administrator in Karnataka, and reveals, “the number of children out of school has reduced from 1 million to 70000.” The scheme has also seen off the junk food industry, as Bhaskar comments, “any person who has seen children eating a hot meal knows that no cookie can substitute.” April 2008 Produced by SBS Dateline Distributed by Journeyman Pictures
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Why You Should Create Weight Loss Menus from Real Food

You can purchase a million weight loss menus online, and some are worth your money while others aren’t.  How can you tell the difference?  It isn’t difficult.  Look for diet programs, or better yet, eating plans that don’t encourage you to substitute artificial sweeteners, whole grains and other healthy ingredients with chemically enhanced junk.

What are Real Foods?
Too many of us have eaten pseudo foods for too long.  It has gotten to the point where many, especially kids, have no idea what real food actually is.  Here’s a clue – fruit snacks, no, fruit, yes.  I know, that sounds a bit silly, but I tell you that kids today would happily sugar up on those chewy sweet treats if given an opportunity. 

We adults aren’t much better.  I freely admit that given a choice between chocolate cake and a banana I’m going to have some serious conflict. 

Real food goes beyond choosing the healthier option.  Is hormone-laden, antibiotic-injected beef real food or not?  I don’t think so.  If you want real meat, you should be buying grass fed beef instead.  Not only does it taste better, it is better for you.  The same is true for organic produce, poultry and eggs, or wild caught fish.  Now, I know you are thinking about the budget when you hear such things.  Let me reassure you right from the start.

Health Food doesn’t have to be Expensive
There is a perception that organic food is much more expensive than conventionally grown food.  There are some things that are, I can’t deny it, but many foods cost the same.  It is a matter of adapting your shopping to what is available seasonally (always a good idea) and watching for sales. 

This week the regular supermarket had rib eye steaks on sale for .77, the organic market had them for .99.  I’m sure you know which I bought.

Okay, you think, that is just one example, here are a few more; avocados conventionally grown , organic .99, blueberries conventionally grown .99 and organics .88. I could go on, but you get the point, if you compare prices and work your menu around what is available, you won’t be spending any more than you did before.

Now, here is the real kicker.  You remember all those chips, cookies, fruit snacks, soda and goodness knows what else you bought that really isn’t food?  When you stop buying them, you save even more, which makes splurging on a  beautiful piece of wild caught King Salmon not only affordable but truly rewarding, and let me tell you, that fish tastes much better than any fish stick ever could.

Now Make your Menus
So, with real food that tastes great, is packed with nutrition and costs you no more each week, are you ready to make some plans?  Whichever meal is hardest for you, start there. 

Breakfast can be steel cut oats, poached whole organic eggs, turkey sausages and a berry parfait or a thousand other options.  Lunch is a wonderful time for an elaborate salad or some grilled chicken breasts with vinaigrette and an orange.  At dinnertime, break out the barbeque and make a steak, grill some shrimp, roast some beets and kale and cook up some brown jasmine rice.

Once you start eating this way, you will wonder how those commercially available weight loss menus ever appealed to you at all.

www.renegadetechconsulting.com In this tutorial, I show how to use the new menu creator in Wordpress 3.0 to create custom menus containing pages, post catgeories, and links.

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The Journey From Vegetarian To Vegan

The plant-based journey has many phases.  It usually starts off with the transition from meat-eating to vegetarianism then from vegetarianism to veganism.  Some stop there and others go on to be raw foodist.  Either way, there are phases and moving from one phase to another is never as easy as some may think, particularly the transition from vegetarian to vegan.

Being a vegetarian has its perks.  You can still enjoy a bowl of chunky monkey ice cream.  Mac and cheese is still on your list of favorite guilty pleasures.  A slice of cheese pizza still occasionally crosses your path and if you’re a pesco-vegetarian you can still indulge in a seafood medley whenever the mood strikes.  On top of all that, dining out still offers you an array of options.

Yet, to your dismay life as a vegan proves to be quite detrimental and has unexpectedly dealt you a bit of a blow.  You now have to seek out alternatives to dairy.  Eating out has become an insurmountable challenge as most restaurants are not vegan-friendly.  The cravings have become overwhelming and if you see one more advertisement of a thick, juicy steak you just might slap somebody.

Nonetheless, once you get your bearings and your vision starts to clear you arrive at a place of peace.  You get more comfortable with your decision and take on a less resistant approach.  You’ve done a little research, have been struck with some creative inspiration and are now preparing tasteful plant-based meals during every spare moment.  You’ve just about forgotten all about your old life as a meat eater.  You no longer get offended when people look at you like you’re from another planet.  Moreover, you’ve moved past the loneliness that once consumed you when you didn’t have any vegan friends.

Now what propels you forward is the voice inside that assures you that you’re doing the right thing.  Also, more than anything, you are proud to be an ethical eater.  Your confidence is through the roof so at every opportunity you’re educating everyone in ears length about your new found dietary bliss and encouraging them to explore it.  The new vegan that is now you looks and feels fabulous and is anxious to see what’s ahead.  Who knows you may even try going raw.