Caribbean Recipes

Escape to the tropics with these island-inspired recipes.

Caribbean food abounds with the fresh flavors of pineapple, rum, lime and plenty of spices. Enjoy jerk chicken, fresh fruit salad, 'Ti punch and more island favorites in this collection of healthy recipes. Try Broiled Ginger-Lime Chicken for a French-Caribbean dinner recipe or Coconut-Rum Banana Bread for a delightfully rich quick bread.
Begin »

Insight of the Day 2/18/15

4 Foods That Lower Blood Pressure

Eat these healthy foods to help naturally lower your blood pressure.

Two out of three Americans over 60 have hypertension (that’s blood pressure of 140/90 or above), putting extra strain on your ticker as it works to pump blood through your body. People with hypertension and even those diagnosed with prehypertension (BP between 120/80 and 139/89) are at serious risk for health problems like heart disease or stroke. The good news? Exercise and healthy habits can help lower your blood pressure—and so can the following foods.
Dish up a serving of these foods for a natural approach to lowering blood pressure. If you do have high blood pressure, be sure to talk to your doctor as well.
Pictured Recipe: Roasted Beet & Barley Salad
—Lindsay Westley
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Spinach with Chickpeas Recipe

Makes: 12 servings, about 1/2 cup each
Active Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 pounds baby spinach
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 19-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth

More Healthy Recipe Ideas

• No-Cook Recipes
• Easy Nectarine Recipes
• Healthy MyPlate-Inspired Vegetable Recipes
• Healthy Gnocchi Recipes
• Healthy Spinach Recipes

You Might Also Like

• Chickpea, Spinach & Squash Gnocchi
• Baby Spinach Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette
• Spinach Salad with Japanese Ginger Dressing
• Wilted Spinach Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette
• Spinach Salad with Avocado-Ranch Dressing

Preparation

1. Rinse spinach and let drain in a colander. With water still clinging to it, place half the spinach in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook, tossing with tongs and adding the remaining spinach by the handful until all is added and wilted, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain in the colander. Let cool slightly, then coarsely chop.
2. Carefully wipe out the pan, then heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion is tender and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in chickpeas, thyme, oregano, cumin, salt and paprika. Using a potato masher, mash some of the chickpeas, then cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Stir in raisins and broth, scraping up any browned bits. Add the chopped spinach and stir gently to combine. Remove from the heat and let stand 10 minutes. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil just before serving.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Bring to room temperature or reheat on medium-low heat before serving.

Nutrition

Per serving: 120 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 3 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 19 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 4 g protein; 6 g fiber; 260 mg sodium; 67 mg potassium.

Your Insight of the Day 2/17/15 - I really like this quote!

Where we feel emotions on the body article by Craig Coppola

Heatmaps Reveal Where Humans Feel Certain Emotions On The Body

by Arjun Walia.
http://www.collective-evolution.com/
February 26, 2014 


It’s well known that attitudes, emotions and feelings affect our body in a variety of ways. For example, feelings of hopelessness affect the body’s hormone system and change the chemical flows within our brains. Different emotional states act as triggers that impact our biology in a variety of ways. Brain activity changes during different emotional states. The list goes on and on.

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science  demonstrates that different emotional states trigger different physical sensations on the body. Emotions such as anger, impacted the body in a different area compared to the emotion of fear, disgust, happiness, love, depression, and more. Each individual emotion had it’s own unique part of the body that correlated with it.

The study was conducted at Aalto University by a team of bio-medical engineers. 700 volunteers from Finland, Sweden and Taiwan participated in the study.

“Emotions are often felt in the body, and somatosensory feedback has been proposed to trigger conscious emotional experiences. Here we reveal maps of bodily sensations associated with different emotions using a unique topographical self-report method. In five experiments, participants were shown two silhouettes of bodies alongside emotional words, stories, movies, or facial expressions. They were asked to color the bodily regions whose activity they felt increasing or decreasing while viewing each stimulus. Different emotions were consistently associated with statically separable bodily sensation maps across experiments. These maps were concordant across West European and East Asian samples.” (1)

Regardless of race, gender, different emotional states correlated with the same part of the body with the majority of participants.  Usually when you have a group as large as 700 people, your going to get pretty reliable and conclusive results.

“Emotions adjust not only our mental, but our bodily states. This way they prepare us to react swiftly to the dangers, but also to the opportunities such as pleasurable social interactions present in the environment.”Lauri Nummenmaa, assistant professor in an Aalto University press release.

This study is yet another important reminder of how emotions can impact the body. Do you pay attention to the ways in which emotions affect your body, health, and others around you? Finding your inner peace is a great way to improve your health.

How can we let go of emotions that don’t serve us? Let’s take anger for example. Imagine that you are carrying a tank of gasoline, and whatever it is in your external world that upsets you, is the match. These can be concepts, thoughts, people, etc. All you have to do is empty and let go of the tank of gasoline, and the matches can’t start a blaze. You are always in control of your emotions, your reactions are always your choice. It starts with looking at yourself from an external perspective. Nobody else is to blame for your different emotional states but yourself, although it might not always seem that way.

Did you know that your heart emits electromagnetic fields that change according to your emotions? That the human heart’s magnetic field can be measured up to several feet away from the body? That positive emotions create physiological benefits in your body? That you can boost your immune system by conjuring positive emotions? That negative emotions can create a nervous system chaos, but positive emotions do the opposite? For more information on this, check out the tremendous work that scientists and researchers are doing at The Instutue of Hearthmath.

 Sources:

 (1) http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/12/26/1321664111

http://memolition.com/2014/01/04/where-humans-feel-certain-emotions/

Black Bean and Tomato Salsa Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup(s) tomato(es), plum, seeded and diced
• 1 cup(s) beans, black, rinsed
• 2 tablespoon scallion(s) (green onions), chopped
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, fresh, or parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon oil, olive, extra-virgin
• 1 teaspoon pepper(s), chipotle chiles, in adobo sauce, minced, (1/2 – 1 teaspoon to taste)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Get the recipe!

Your Insight of the Day 2/12/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/16/15

How to draw beautiful animals lesson

If you've always wanted to draw beautiful animals, then you
must visit the page at ...

http://drawing-made-easy.com/portfolio-items/animal-mastery/
... because Sharon (our artist) breaks each part down into easy
step by step pieces so you'll be drawing amazing animals by the
end.
Anyone can learn to draw animals regardless of skill and what
better place than in the privacy of your own home.
So check out the page at...
http://drawing-made-easy.com/portfolio-items/animal-mastery/
Warm Regards

Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy

Insight of the Day 2/15/15

Insight of the Day 2/14/2015

Insight of the Day 2/13/2015

You Can't Control Everything

Ask For What You Want

Your Insight of the Day 2/11/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/10/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/9/15

Healthy Italian Recipes: Penne with Vodka Sauce & Capicola

Penne with Vodka Sauce & Capicola

Our velvety tomato sauce is spiked with cubes of salty capicola and a few shots of vodka. Make it a Meal: Caesar salad and a glass of Pinot Noir will shine with this dish.
» Penne with Vodka Sauce & Capicola

Short Ribs Arrabbiata over Polenta Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 slices pancetta or bacon, chopped
• 3 pounds boneless beef short ribs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28 ounce can Italian-style whole peeled tomatoes in puree, cut up
• 1/4 cup dry red wine
• 1 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 3 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup quick-cooking polenta or cornmeal
• 3/4 cup finely shredded Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil or parsley

 

Directions

1. 

In a large skillet, cook pancetta until crisp; use a slotted spoon to remove from skillet. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Brown ribs on all sides in hot drippings. Remove beef from skillet. Cook onion and garlic in hot drippings until tender; drain fat.

2. 

In a 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker, place pancetta, onion, garlic, and beef ribs. Add undrained tomatoes, red wine, basil, oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and crushed red pepper.

3. 

Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

4. 

In a large saucepan, bring the water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boiling. Stir in polenta. Reduce heat. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cheese and basil.

5. 

Serve polenta in shallow bowls topped with short ribs and sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.

nutrition information

Per Serving: cal. (kcal) 882, Fat, total (g) 68, chol. (mg) 148, sat. fat (g) 30, carb. (g) 39, Monosaturated fat (g) 29, Polyunsaturated fat (g) 2, fiber (g) 5, sugar (g) 4, pro. (g) 34, vit. A (IU) 583.08, vit. C (mg) 11.81, Thiamin (mg) 0.13, Riboflavin (mg) 0.26, Niacin (mg) 4.34, Pyridoxine (Vit. B6) (mg) 0.57, Folate (µg) 16.13, Cobalamin (Vit. B12) (µg) 4.58, sodium (mg) 1050, Potassium (mg) 662, calcium (mg) 181.74, iron (mg) 4.5, Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Your Insight of the Day 2/8/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/7/15

Cool drawing site of the month

I've just found a great new web site that shows you how to draw
animals in pencil over at ...


http://www.drawing-made-easy.com/site-of-the-month/february.htm
There's over 486 pages (that's heaps of content) and over 900
illustrations detailing the techniques.
You must see some of the images that are displayed on the web
site ... they're fantastic ... all done with just a pencil.
Check it out now at ...
http://www.drawing-made-easy.com/site-of-the-month/february.htm
I'll keep you updated if I find any other cool sites ... but
this one's pretty good and worth a look : )
Warm Regards

Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy

Pepper Steak Stir Fry Recipe

• Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1	Large Piece of Sirloin Steak
1	Large Onion
1	Large Green Pepper
	Sliced Fresh Mushrooms
	Fresh Garlic
1× 8 oz can	Tomato Sauce
	Worcestershire Sauce
	Salt
	Pepper
	Sugar

Directions:

Slice steak into thin strips.
Saute in olive oil and add fresh garlic.
Add pepper, onion and mushrooms and saute for 10 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, 3 drops of Worcestershire sauce and a pinch of sugar.
Salt & pepper to taste, cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes.

Helpful Tips:

Serve over white rice.

Read more: http://beef.betterrecipes.com/pepper-steak-stir-fry.html?sssdmh=dm17.782217&esrc=nwdr020615#ixzz3RZpKf9wM

Herbed Steak with Balsamic Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning, crushed
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 boneless beef top loin steaks, cut 3/4 inch thick
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. In a small bowl combine cracked pepper, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and salt. Sprinkle evenly over both sides of each steak; rub in with your fingers.
2. In a heavy large skillet heat oil over medium-low to medium heat. Add steaks; cook until desired doneness, turning once halfway through cooking time. Allow 10 to 13 minutes for medium-rare doneness (145 degrees F) to medium doneness (160 degrees F). Remove steaks from skillet, reserving drippings in the skillet. Keep steaks warm.
3. For sauce, carefully add beef broth and balsamic vinegar to the skillet; stir to scrape up any crusty brown bits from bottom of skillet. Bring to boiling. Boil gently, uncovered, about 4 minutes or until sauce is reduced by half. Remove from heat; stir in butter.
4. Divide sauce among 4 dinner plates. Cut each steak in half. Place a piece of meat on top of sauce on each plate; sprinkle with parsley. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving:

Servings Per Recipe: 4
PER SERVING: 217 cal., 11 g total fat (4 g sat. fat), 75 mg chol., 281 mg sodium, 2 g carb. 25 g pro.

Diabetic Exchanges

Fat (d.e): 0.5; Lean Meat (d.e): 3.5

Insight of the Day 2/6/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/5/15

Insight of the Day 2/4/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/3/15

Cucumber Seaweed Salad - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
If you are having difficulty adding seaweed (sea vegetables) into your Healthiest Way of Eating, try this easy-to-prepare salad and enjoy all of the extra minerals the sea vegetables have to offer.
Cucumber Seaweed Salad
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 TBS dried arame or hijiki sea vegetables
• 3 cups cucumber, peeled, seeds scooped out, sliced
• 1 medium tomato, seeds and excess pulp removed, sliced
• 1 TBS minced scallions
• Dressing
• 3 TBS rice vinegar
• 2 TBS tamari (soy sauce)
• 1/2 TBS finely minced fresh ginger
• 1/2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
• Extra virgin olive oil to taste
• Salt and white pepper to taste
• *For more on the safety of sea vegetables such as hijiki:
• The safety factors regarding sea vegetables, such as hijiki

Directions:

1. Rinse and soak arame or hijiki in warm water while preparing rest of ingredients.
2. Peel cucumber and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with a small spoon and slice thin.
3. Cut tomato in half crosswise and squeeze out seeds. Quarter and cut out excess pulp. Cut into slices about 1/4-inch wide.
4. Whisk rest of ingredients together. Squeeze out excess water from seaweed. Chop if necessary. You don't want seaweed pieces to be too large. Toss everything together and serve immediately.

Serves 2 Printer Friendly Version of Cucumber Seaweed Salad
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Cucumber Seaweed Salad
Healthy Food Tip

Do pickles have about the same amount of nutrition as raw cucumbers?

There is some nutrient loss that occurs when a vegetable, like a cucumber, is pickled. The exact nutrients that are lost and the exact percentage depends on (1) the liquids you use to pickle and marinate and (2) the length of time you keep the vegetables in the solution before consuming them. A certain percentage of some water-soluble nutrients, like vitamin C, can naturally transfer to the pickling liquid over time.
Here are some specifics regarding cucumber pickles:
A raw unpeeled 8-inch cucumber weighs about 300 grams, provides about 45 calories of energy, and contains about 8.4 milligrams of vitamin C. Two 4-inch pickled cucumbers (sour, not sweet) weigh about 270 grams, provide about 30 calories of energy, and contain about 2.8 milligrams of vitamin C. So you can see that there is a moderate amount of vitamin C loss involved with the pickling process. I say "moderate" here because pickles do not contain a very large amount of vitamin C to begin with, and even though the loss is fairly high in terms of percentage, we are only talking about 5-6 milligrams here.
This same type of nutrient loss applies to a vitamin like folic acid. In the 8-inch raw cucumber referred to above, there are about 21 micrograms of folic acid. In the sour pickle example, there are only 2 micrograms. Once again, this nutrient loss is very substantial as a percentage, but since DRI (Dietary Reference Intake) recommendation for adults is 400 micrograms of folic acid each day, these 19 lost micrograms, while still important to notice, only constitute about 5% of the DRI requirement.
Many of the minerals in cucumber are contained in the skins, and keeping the skins on when pickling would be important if you wanted to maintain the mineral content. (Of course, I would highly recommend organic cucumbers, especially when leaving on the skins, since it's the skin that gets the most exposure to potentially toxic sprays.)
I don't object to the pickling of vegetables and think they definitely can have a healthy place in your Healthiest of Way of Eating. However, I do see them as significantly different (in terms of nutritional value) both from raw vegetables and from minimally cooked vegetables.

15-Minute Halibut with Avocado Salsa - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Today's Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
Get an extra boost of health-promoting vitamin A from the tomatoes and heart-healthy monounsatured fats from the avocados in this great addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating.
15-Minute Halibut with Avocado Salsa
Prep and Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients:

• 6 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• ¼ cup minced scallion
• 1-2 tsp finely minced jalapeno pepper
• 3 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
• 8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 medium ripe but firm avocado, diced into ¼-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup + 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 4 6 oz halibut steaks or fillets
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Press garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out its health-promoting properties.
2. Mix together garlic, scallions, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, tomatoes, avocado, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
3. Heat 2 inches of water in the bottom of a steamer and let it come to a boil.
4. Rub halibut with 1TBS lemon juice and season with a little salt and black pepper. Place in steamer and steam 10 minutes for every inch of thickness. (e.g., 5 minutes if it is 1/2-inch thick)
5. Place fish on plate, and top with salsa.

Serves 4 Serving Suggestion: Serve with Mexican Corn on the Cob and Green Salad
Printer Friendly Version of 15-Minute Halibut with Avocado Salsa
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for 15-Minute Halibut with Avocado Salsa
Healthy Food Tip
Do they use a lot of pesticides in the production of non-organic almonds? The organic ones are much more expensive and I was wondering whether it was worth it.
Unfortunately, I haven't seen much data on the actual measurements of pesticide residues on almonds (the nuts themselves). I have seen the results from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Pesticide Program Residue Monitoring 2002 (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/pes02rep.html), which noted that there were no pesticide residues found in the samples that they tested in their study. Yet, because they only tested two samples, I would definitely not want to make any conclusive statements from such a tiny amount of evidence.
What is more widely available is information about the use of pesticides in the growing of almond trees. If you do an Internet search using the keywords "almonds pesticides" you'll find reports about the amounts and types of pesticides used in the growing of almonds in California (where a majority of the almonds are grown). For example, according to one report (http://www.almondboard.com/Programs/CropProtectionDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=4177), the amount of pesticides applied to almond tree fields increased 12% from 2002 to 2003. Another website I found listed the types of pesticides most frequently applied to almond trees. You can see this information at http://www.pesticideinfo.org/DS.jsp?sk=3001#TopChems.
I should point out here that it's perfectly legal to spray toxin-containing pesticides on almonds and for the nuts themselves to contain pesticide residues. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sets the food standards here, and pesticides get routinely reviewed for regulatory reasons. For example, they currently allow about 20 parts per billion (20 ppb) levels of the pesticide, acequinocyl, to show up in the nuts themselves. This tolerance level would legally allow about 120 micrograms of the pesticide to show up in one cup of your almonds.
Should you risk this level of pesticide exposure by selecting non-organic almonds? Unfortunately, the answer probably depends on how often you eat almonds, how many other potential toxins your body has to process, your overall level of health, and the specific health of your body's detoxification systems. In general, if you are extremely vital and healthy and don't have many other toxins for your body to process, ppb (parts per billion) levels of a pesticide will probably not pose much of a risk to your health. However, if you do not have healthy detoxification systems, or you are exposed to many other routine toxins (not necessarily involving your food), a relatively small amount of pesticide residues in your almonds may increase your risk of health problems.
Based on the information I have seen, I cannot conclusively give you insights into whether there is a lot of pesticide residues found on the almond nut (which would hopefully have some protection granted to it by the nature of the hard shell surrounding it) but can note that there seems to be a significant amount of pesticides used in the conventional (non-organic) growing of almonds. Whether the pesticide residues end up on the almonds you eat, I don't know. Yet, I do know that the application of these pesticides may have profound effects upon the land, ecosystem, and health of the workers involved in growing the almond trees, which would not be present if the trees were grown organically. Therefore, by purchasing organic almonds, you may not only be doing something better for your health but you are also supporting a more sustainable environment.
For more information on this topic:

• Almonds
• Everything I Need to Know About Organic Foods
• Can you be certain that your organically grown foods are truly organic?
• Which fruits and vegetables contain the most pesticide residues?
• Can I effectively wash off pesticides from my fruits and vegetables?

25 Signs You are Already Successful and You’re Simply Unaware Article

We have all had that period in our lives where we feel, regardless of what happens, we simply have nothing positive going for us. It's easy to criticize yourself in just about anything - from your competence in the workplace to how you deal with situations at home - and this can make it easy to become clouded to our own successes in life.

This kind of constant action and lack of clarity can make it easy to believe that you are a failure even when all the evidence in your life -personally and professionally - points to other conclusions. 

If you are too busy in life fighting fires, you'll likely never make the time to actually appreciate your own success and accomplishments.

You could already be successful and just not realize it. Here are some signs that it is the case > > >

To Your Dreams and Success,

Carter Lane

Founder, Law of Attraction (LOA) System

Your Insight of the Day 2/2/15

Your Insight of the Day 2/1/15

Secrets Of The World's Most Powerful Women

Be a Leader: How To Be A Powerful Woman

Love, relationships, and the law of attraction

10 Tips to Improve Your Memory Article

10 Tips to Improve Your Memory

• By Diana Rodriguez | Medically reviewed by Niya Jones, MD, MPH

Having trouble remembering appointments, items you need at the grocery store, or where you put your keys? Everyone has moments when something slips their mind. If this has been happening to you with increasing frequency, try doing a few easy brain exercises each day to help improve memory.
Luckily, mental workouts can be just as effective for your brain as physical workouts are for your body.

---

Test your memory skills with this interactive game. 

Click here to see the video

Your Insight of the Day 1/31/2015 - Boy is this so true

Insight of the Day 1/30/15

Painting Foam Effects Lesson

Foam can be painted several ways.

You can use white paint to sponge it on over the top of painted water, or sponge on masking fluid and paint the water over the top.

You stamp it with a piece of mat board, or see what effects you can get using cloth, bubble wrap, a wad of foil, or anything else that you can paint on.

One of the most entertaining methods for painting foam, however, is described here. This technique can be used for bubbles or interesting texture on rocks as well, and is definitely something you should try at home.

Begin by whisking up a bowl of soap bubbles. Shampoo, dishsoap, bubbles for kids...they all work, but some bubbles last longer and those work best. These bubbles were made with baby shampoo.

Use a fork to transfer a bunch of bubbles to your watercolor paper. Use as big a glob as you want your foam to be. You can either put them on white paper and drop in the blues of the water, or you can put them on dry paint and drop in white paint

Use a syringe or baby dropper to carefully drop some color to the bubbles. Be gentle; you don’t want to pop the bubbles or use so much paint that you cover the effect.

And don’t try to paint the paper through the bubbles; you’re dropping paint on the top and letting it flow down by itself.

That’s it! When the bubbles have all popped and the paint is dry, this is what you get. It looks just like foam, because that’s exactly what it is.

And this is something that you can’t paint nearly as well any other way.

Experiment with using different colors and different surfaces, then branch out and see what else you can use to create textures in your paintings without damaging the surface.

Rubbing alchohol, dirt, sand, plastic wrap, blow-drying paint, using inks...there’s so much to try! Let your imagination run wild. This is what problem solving in painting is all about.

Want To Learn More...

A seascape is a landscape drawing that features the ocean and elements along the shore of the ocean.

Seascapes have been the subject of drawings and paintings for generations but recently it seems to be a hidden gem that is forgotten by budding artists.

Drawing seascapes offer challenges and artistic possibilities that make them ideal subjects for artists of all levels.

Artists who do attempt this form of drawing usually get caught up on focusing on the wrong elements which makes it hard to get a life like portrait.

Once you know the elements that will make or break your seascape you will never look back and will have more confidence in your ability.

Click here to learn more

Warm Regards

Chris Elmore
Drawing Made Easy

Sweet N' Sour Cod with Cabbage and Broccoli - Healthy Food Tip and Recipe

healthy food tip and recipe

Daily Summer Recipe If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
If you are watching your weight, this is a great health-promoting recipe for you. It's not just low in calories it also adds a wealth of nutrients, especially health-promoting vitamins C and K, to your Healthiest Way of Eating. Enjoy!
Sweet N' Sour Cod with Cabbage and Broccoli
Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium onion, sliced medium thick
• 4 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 TBS chicken or vegetable broth broth
• 1 TBS minced fresh ginger
• 2 cups small broccoli florets, cut into about 1/2-inch pieces with no stem
• 1 lb cod filet, cut into 1 inch pieces (use thick filets)
• 4 cups finely shredded green cabbage
• 2 TBS chopped fresh cilantro
• salt and white pepper to taste
• 1 TBS sesame seeds
• 
  
• Sweet n' Sour Sauce
• 3 TBS tamari (soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup mirin rice wine
• 2 TBS chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 TBS honey
• salt and white pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Slice onion and mince garlic and let sit for 5 minutes to bring out their health-promoting properties.
2. Mix together all sauce ingredients and simmer in a small saucepan over high heat for about 15 minutes, reducing it to half the volume. Set aside. This will intensify the flavor.
3. While sauce is reducing, prepare rest of ingredients.
4. Heat 1 TBS broth in a stainless steel wok or large skillet. Healthy Stir-Fry onion in broth for 1 minute over medium high heat, stirring constantly.
5. Add garlic, ginger, and cod and continue to stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
6. Add broccoli and continue to stir-fry for another minute.
7. Add cabbage and continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
8. Add sweet n' sour sauce, cilantro, salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Serves 4 Serving Suggestion: Serve with

• Seaweed Rice

Printer Friendly Version of Sweet N' Sour Cod with Cabbage and Broccoli
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Sweet N' Sour Cod with Cabbage and Broccoli
Healthy Food Tip

Does the cooking of vegetables cause problems with their fiber, and can it impact their digestibility or their effect on blood sugar levels?

While the cooking of vegetables does alter their fiber content, I do not believe that the changes are causes for concern, provided that cooking times and temperatures are kept at a minimum. There are many different types of fiber in food. Some types of fiber, like celluloses and hemicelluloses, may actually become a little easier to digest as a result of brief cooking. Other fibers may change in ways that are completely natural but not really "good" or "bad." All bets are off, however, if you overcook your vegetables. Prolonged cooking and overheating can cause damage to some types of fiber and result in a less healthy form of all vegetables.
With the exception of root vegetables, most vegetables are relatively high in fiber, relatively low in starch, and relatively gentle on our blood sugar levels. The moderate cooking of most vegetables has not been shown to be problematic when it comes to blood sugar regulation. In the case of the starchier root vegetables, minimal cooking still appears to be a fully acceptable practice when it comes to blood sugar regulation. However, prolonged overcooking of starchy root vegetables may carry more of a risk. To understand the effect of this overcooking on blood sugar levels, it can be helpful to compare the glycemic index (GI) values of raw and fully cooked carrots. When consumed in raw form, carrots have a very low GI value of 16. However, when consumed in fully cooked form (so that they are fully soft in terms of their texture), their GI value will increase into the range of 32-49. While this range is still not considered high (in fact, GI values of 55 and below are usual ly considered "low"), it is still a fairly large jump from the GI value for raw carrots.
Since we always keep our cooking times and cooking heats to a minimum in the Healthiest Way of Cooking, I do not believe you will be losing any of your vegetables' fiber-related, blood-sugar-related, or digestive-health-related benefits when following our basic vegetable cooking guidelines.