Essential Reads for Men: 'The Food and Beer Cook Book' by Richard Fox

With the exception of such staples as curry, steak and ale pie or, god forbid, the doner kebab, beer and fine cuisine have tended to have a difficult relationship. Despite the arrival of microbrews and fruit beers, grain remains very much grape's poor relation, with few top restaurants boasting of their beer list.

Now, however, grain has found its champion in Maxim 'Beer Chef' Richard Fox. The Food and Beer Cook Book is an unashamedly unpretentious collection of recipes and informative titbits designed to convince us that beer deserves a place in every kitchen, above and beyond that of chef's lubricant.

Fox's love of beer emerges from the start, guiding us energetically through the various types, matching beers to meals and even giving a quick rundown on beer tasting. Throughout, it's clear that his recipes are as much about celebrating the beverage in all its forms as they are about the food itself.

As Fox himself says, 'cooking at home is more about the event...than about fancy food', and that's reflected in his choice of dishes. Many are established favourites such as the club sandwich, Welsh rarebit and eggs Benedict, while every recipe uses beer either for flavour or to simplify preparation.

Fox assumes that his reader will have all the culinary aptitude of the stereotypical male, keeping recipes simple to the point of brutality and focusing on ingredients and flavours rather than technique. The club sandwich is made with pigeon and caramelised onions -- 'top tasting, beer soaking, footie friendly fodder of the highest order' -- while canapés include mini Yorkshire puddings with venison and raspberry beer sauce, with a side order of idiot-proof instructions.

The Food and Beer Cook Book includes suggestions for both formal and informal occasions, ranging from a romantic dinner à deux to supplies for TV marathons. Ladies horrified by the idea of confronting one of Fox's creations at their next candlelit rendezvous can take comfort in dishes such as fruit salad with strawberry beer crème fraiche, and inside-out hot dogs with BBQ sauce look likely to keep plainer appetites topped up.

As you've probably guessed, this isn't a book for the aspiring Gordon Ramsay. For those more Can't Cook, Won't Cook than Masterchef, however, it may prove just the thing to remove that kitchen phobia. Cheers!

**The Food and Beer Cook Book is published by Sentinel Press**

Non Alcoholic Drink Recipes for a Baby Shower

In special occasions like weddings, birthdays and baby showers where you have invited your closest friends and relatives to come over and celebrate the moment with you, serving drinks is a basic rule. Since food and other treats are expected to be present, drinks should never be left out. And since it is a family occasion, non-alcoholic drinks are usually more appropriate.

Drinks are as important as the dishes you want to be served on special occasions such as a baby shower. Hence, it is vital to have at least a few non alcoholic drink recipes at hand for you to use for the event. Listed below are just some of the many options you may want to use for your baby shower:

Lime Rickey:
1 large lime juice
Sugar
Club soda

For this recipe, mix lime juice with a teaspoonful of sugar in a glass and stir well. Add at least two ice cubes and club soda then stir again. An optional garnish of lime slices will make the drink look attractive.

Pineapple Daisy:
8 parts pineapple juice
1 part grenadine
2 parts lemon juice

Mix the ingredients altogether. You can either stir it or shake it. After mixing, pour into the glass and add fresh pineapple and strawberries as decorations.

Spicy Coffee Cooler:
Cinnamon
1 cup heavy whipped cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Ground coffee
15 whole cloves
7 cups cold water

Mix the cloves, cinnamon and coffee with water and then brew. Add powdered sugar to the brewed mixture after straining. Fill half of the glass with crushed ice and then pour the brewed mixture. Add a touch of sweetened cream on the top.

Raspberry Mint Crush:
2 cups lime juice
1 cup red raspberries
2 cups sugar
A bunch of mint
2 cups boiling water

Mix the sugar into the water and let it chill. After a while, add crushed mint and lime juice into the mixture and let it chill again in the refrigerator for another 2 to 3 hours. Strain the mixture and pour it over a glass with cracked ice and garnish it with mint leaves.

Planters Punch:
3 quarts ginger ale
2 cups grenadine
2 cups lemon juice
2 cups orange juice
Sliced strawberries and pineapple
Mint leaves

Mix all the juices along with grenadine and let it chill for about 12 hours or overnight. Add ginger ale over the chilled mixture before serving. Garnish the drink with slices of strawberry and pineapple.

The recipes mentioned above can still be added with other ingredients to add more taste and flavoring. The secret also comes on how you present these drinks to your guests by way of the garnishes that you use. You should also know how to make further experiments on the drinks to be able to come up with a revised version of the drink recipes mentioned above. To do this, the testing phase should be done at least a few days before the exact day of the baby shower to allow certain adjustments if there are any.

Drinks Recipes For Springtime

Would you like to have some drinks recipes for for some special occasion? For a springtime drink, that gives you a boost of fruity goodness check out Spring fever or tries a delicious peach and strawberry burst smoothie sure to brighten any day.

Spring Fever

For Spring fever, you will need the following ingredients

Ingredients

- 3/4 oz lemon juice

- 3/4 oz mango syrup

- 1 1/2 oz apple juice

- 2 oz blood orange juice

Directions

Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice or into a sealable cup if you do not have a cocktail shaker. Shake well and then strain into a glass with some crushed ice.

Mango syrup

Love mango? Here's a recipe for you:

Ingredients

1 cup fruit

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

Directions

Combine fruit, sugar and water and cook until thick smashing the fruit while cooking
For a thinner consistence strain and for thicker syrup process the cooked syrup using a food processor.

Peach and Strawberry Burst Smoothie

A smoothie is a blended, chilled, sweet beverage made from fresh fruit which is blended with crushed ice or frozen yogurt. They do taste like milkshake but unlike milkshakes, they do not usually contain milk or ice-cream. Smoothies are a favorite drinks to people who are health-conscious.

Ingredients

1 fresh peach

1 handful of strawberries (approx 7)

1 small glass of orange juice

4 ice cubes

Ingredients

Wash the strawberries and chop them in half. Peel the peach, take out the stone and chop it into about eight. Put the orange juice, peach and strawberries into a blender and blend until there are only small lumps. Now add the ice cubes and blend until the mixture has no lumps. Now put into a glass with two straws and enjoy!

Finally, summer time would not be summer without lemonade here is a great recipe for an old summer time favorite.

Lemonade

Lemonade is a drink enjoyed year round, but mainly during the summer time. The ingredients typically consist of lemon juice, water and sugar. Depending on your taste, the lemonade can be very concentrated or diluted. The drink can be made from fresh lemons, frozen concentrate, or powdered mixes. For this recipe, we will just use lemon juice.

Ingredients

Starting proportions should be a 1 to 1 ratio.

1-cup sugar

1-cup water

1 cup lemon juice.

This proportion can be really sweet so reduce the sugar to taste.

Make sugar syrup by dissolving the sugar into hot water. This keeps the sugar in the lemonade instead of in the bottom of the container.

Heat sugar and water in a saucepan until sugar is dissolved then add lemon juice. Take off the heat add to a pitcher and add 4 cups cold water approximately. Refrigerate 30-40 minutes.

Couples Diet - 5 Pointers For Food And Drinks

If you and your partner want to lose weight together, there is nothing better than going on a couples diet. A diet for couples is more effective than each of you going on different diets separately. It gets even worse if you see your partner eat fattening food while you try to lose weight. How would you feel it you were trying to cut down on sweets and then see your partner munching on a chocolate bar in front of you?

You can start a couples diet by planning a menu for two. There are some types of food and drinks that you should get at the grocery or a health food store that will enhance your weight loss plan. Don't presume that diet food is supposed to taste bad. You can still enjoy eating healthy food if you know how to choose what to pick up at the grocery store. Here are tips about food and drinks when going on a couples diet:

1. Water is the healthiest beverage you can drink whether you are on a diet or not. Start your day with a glass of water. Have some too before each meal to decrease your hunger pangs and appetite. Have some more during your meal, and end the night with more water.

2. Switch from flavored and carbonated drinks to fresh fruit juice. Many fizzy drinks like soda, carbonated and flavored water are actually full of sugar which become calories. These are fattening when you take too much of these drinks. Soda can be addictive, so try to cut the soda habit and replacing it with healthier fruit juice.

3. Now that we are talking about fruit juice, it is better to make your own with a juicer or buy commercial fruit juices that don't have any sweeteners or additives. Choose fruits that have a lot of fiber content and vitamins like pineapples or oranges. You can also add some vegetables to your fruit juice like liquefied carrots. Carrots are also able to fight diseases like cancer.

4. Eat a lot of fresh fruits that are high in fiber instead of snacking on potato chips or chocolates. Pineapples, apples, grapes and berries are good choices. Watermelon has a lot of liquid content which is also good. Grapes and berries contain a lot of antioxidants. There are also other kinds of food that are high in fiber like bran cereals, legumes, peas, barley, rye, and soybeans.

5. Vegetables should also be a part of your diet menu. Start with broccoli, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, zucchini and tomatoes. Vegetables will also help you lose weight aside from making you more healthy. Green leafy vegetable are better choices although green salads are also good. When eating salad during a couples diet, get fat-free dressing.

Although you may be eating salad, you may not be conscious that the bacon and dressing in your salad could be fattening. Gravy also uses butter and dairy products than can make you gain weight. Look for a list of foods and drinks for your couples diet and find more recipes that will be healthy but delicious.

Fast Food and Obesity Are Inextricably Linked

If you have been paying any attention at all to the ongoing health care debate, you know a large part of that debate is over what preventative measures can and should be taken by everyone to take responsibility for their personal health and stay out of the doctor's offices and hospital emergency rooms in the first place.

A large part of this prevention debate as centered on the very scary childhood obesity statistics and the undeniable link between eating too much fast food and the rise of obesity rates in children.

What follows here is a pretty eye opening comparison of some fast food nutrition information along with the current USDA recommended daily calorie intake for children of different ages.

This table provides the recommended daily calorie intake for children based on both age and level of physical activity. To the USDA, for a child to qualify as "active" they must be doing an amount of physical exercise equal to walking three miles daily at 3 to 4 miles an hour as well as the light physical activity of daily life.

• Boys ages 4-8 and active 2,000; if sedentary 1,400
• Girls ages 4-8 and active 1,400; if sedentary 1,000
• Boys ages 14-18 and active 3,200; if sedentary 2,200
• Girls ages 14-18 and active 2,400; if sedentary 1,800

Now, compare the above table with the following information from a popular fast food chain's nutritional website regarding a meal consisting of a double cheeseburger, medium fries, and a medium drink. Such a meal will put into your child's body:

• 1, 400 calories
• 62 grams of fat
• 186 grams of carbohydrates

Please note that this meal offers the "medium" French fries and drink. If you "supersize" the fries and drink, the totals are even scarier.

When you look at these two sets of numbers and then take into account that our children are getting less physical activity than ever before because of changes in the school curriculum doing away with recess and the amount of time spent in front of computers or television at home, some of the reasons for childhood obesity become very clear.

I do not mean to demonize fast food here, as an every now and then treat there isn't thing wrong with them. The problem with fast food starts when we begin to rely on their menus as an everyday source of meals.

On the positive side of things, there are many studies show that children in households that promote both healthy food choices and sensible diets that do not rely so much on processed foods and the fast food outlets have a much improved chances to maintain these habits throughout their lifetime.

Of course, kids being kids, promoting healthy food choices at home will be much easier if you have something to substitute for the fast food treats and for that I recommend fruit or vegetable smoothies in their many forms as a staple of a healthy diet for years to come.

Healthy smoothies can be made from any number of fresh and/or frozen fruit with very few calories, fat, and carbohydrates. For example, a 16 oz fruit smoothie recipe using strawberries, bananas and low-fat yogurt will come in at around 530 calories, less than 3 grams fat, and 98 grams carbohydrates. Plus, you will have the added benefit of the nutritional value of the fruit in terms of vitamins and dietary fiber that are absent in the fast food meal.

The epidemic of childhood obesity is not going away but we can all help by watching what our children eat and providing them better food choices.

Summer Drink Recipes for Everyone

We have all seen them, either on TV or while setting in a restaurant, those drinks that just look like summer. They have a refreshing, thirst quenching look that makes them very appealing to the eye and most of the ones I have tried have the same appeal to the taste buds. What gives them that summer look and appeal? I believe it is the fresh fruit and green herbs floating in the icy liquid. So what does it take to create those summer drink recipes for your next summer gathering or simple cookout?

An ingredient in many drink recipes is simple syrup. Make your own simple syrup and spice it up with fresh herbs. Just like infusing herbs with oil or vinegar you can infuse them into simple syrup. It is quick and easy to make and your spiced simple syrup cannot only be used in your favorite summer drink recipes but it can also be used to sweeten tea.

Simple syrup recipe (with spice):

• 2 cups sugar (or baking quality artificial sweetener)
• 2 cups water
• Herb of choice (1 cup Basil or Mint or Lemon Verbena or 3 sprigs Rosemary are only some of the choices)

Tip: Use fewer herbs if you select ones with a more powerful taste, such as Rosemary.

Directions:

Combine the sugar and herbs; use a muddler to crush the herb into the sugar. This releases the oils from the herbs and gives the syrup flavor. In a saucepan, combine the water and sugar/herb mixture, bring to a slow boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Allow the syrup to cool and then strain. Your simple syrup can now be refrigerated and kept for about a month.

Most summer drink recipes can be made with or without alcohol so the recipes can be used to satisfy all your guests. The classic recipes for several of the drinks call for alcohol but I have tried many of them without and they are still very tasty. Have you ever tried a non-alcoholic Mojito? It is really just sparkling mint limeade and is quite tasty. You can adjust any of the recipes by not adding or omitting the alcohol.

Basil Lemonade:

• 2 cups lemon juice (approx. 15 lemons if squeezing fresh)
• 2 cups Basil Simple Syrup
• Water or sparkling water to taste (start with 2 cups and add more if needed)

Directions:

Combine ingredients and refrigerate. Serve over ice and garnish with basil leaves and lemon twist.

Mojito:

• 6 tablespoons lime juice (approx. 1 lime if squeezing fresh)
• 8 large mint leaves
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 2-3 ounce of light rum
• Club soda

Directions:

In a glass, combine the mint leaves, sugar and lime juice with a muddler. (Mint simple syrup can be used in place of the sugar and mint leaves-start with 4 Tablespoons and add more until desired sweetness.) Add ice, rum, club soda and garnish with fresh mint leaves.

Tip: Change up your mojitos by adding fruit. Combine a fresh fruit puree (strawberries, melon, etc.) by using a food processor to reduce the fruit to pulp, strain out any of larger pieces of fruit that remain. Mix the fruit puree in with the other ingredients prior to adding the club soda.

Herb Soda:

• 3-4 Tablespoons Simple Syrup infused with your choice of herb (see recipe)
• Fresh herbs leaves or sprigs for garnish
• Splash of lemon juice
• Sparkling water or club soda

Directions:

Fill glasses with ice; add lemon juice, simple syrup and club soda (or sparkling water) and stir. Add fresh herbs for garnish.

So now you know what to do to wow your guests with attractive and tasty summer drink recipes. Get creative and create some of your very own by combining some of these recipes and tips with some of your own.

3 Tips on Diet Foods and Recipes

Have you ever subscribed to the best food weight loss publications and have almost rented all the books which contained diet foods and recipes and have visited the markets in the hope of getting the best diet foods and recipes. Shopping for the foods may take more time because you have to carefully go over all the foodstuff tags. Even if you are a nourishment weight loss specialist, you cannot be positive that you are consuming the right material?

Specialists have exposed tips on diet foods and recipes sins and how you can keep away from them.. These tips are described as follows:

Tip #1: Don't take for granted that what you consume and drink is good and sufficient.

People have a tendency to think and act on what they study. For example, just for the reason that a label said something actually fit, does not precisely mean that it includes the nutrients you necessitate. Looking further than what the diet foods and recipes may contain is really what should be your main concern. Eating foodstuffs that have undergone processing, can not take the place of new veggies that you make ready yourself. There are certain ingredients that are wasted for the duration of the processing. Fruit juices are not as good as consuming entire fruits. Even if they declare to be 100% untouched, these juices do not include as much ingredients as fresh fruits do.

Tip #2: Over-eating and Under-eating is a bad habit.

These are two different situations in diet foods and recipes weight loss plans. Even if they are very much opposing to one another, they are very much associated. Consuming large amount of food even if you have adhered to all the low-fat and low-carbohydrates diets may still not be a good weight loss application for you. Not eating adequate food will also result in weight increase because it will manipulate your insulin levels encouraging storage of fats by your system. Hence, it is highly recommended that instead of putting much stress on diet foods and recipes, one should eats about 5-6 light servings of food a day instead of eating 3 large ones.

Tip #3: Several supplements should only be used after advice of a doctor

Vitamins are add-on and we call them supplements. They can be an element of your diet foods and recipes weight loss plan but should not be taken in very excess quantity. The supplements are needed if you don't get nourishment from the foods. These should be approved by a doctor and should not be requested from just about anybody which includes the sales person in the neighboring pharmacy.

Proper diet foods and recipes have been in constant public interest all these years. A lot of negligence has been made by quite a few people due to the shortage of proper advices from genuine experts. This can now be easily concluded that weight loss program is not identical for everybody. What is suitable for you may not be good for your mother. Moral of the story, recommendation of dependable health experts should be your first footstep in finding the best diet foods and recipes.

Healthy Breakfast Recipes, Snack And Desert Recipes

Eating a well balanced meal.

Healthy breakfast recipes snack and desert recipes are a step in the right direction but not if you do it just once a week, You've probably heard people say.. eat your breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day. Well, they're right, Breakfast provides your body with energy after an 8 to 10 hour period of fasting. While you don't expend many exercise calories while you sleep, your body still uses a lot of energy for it's metabolic functions.

Skipping breakfast is like forgetting to put gas in a car when the gauge reads empty. Although you may not cease to function you may feel terrible and have very little pep. If you enjoy healthy breakfast recipes snack and desert recipes, it gives you the time to eat those time release energy capsules and complex carbohydrates.

Three meals a day is traditional in America, however many nutritionists believe this is not the best way to eat. They note that three meals a day give people most of their energy in three bursts. Between these bursts people lack energy to compensate for feeling tired, someone might eat a candy bar or some cookies between meals, as this provides an energy boost but also increases ones calories and over time ones weight.

These nutritionists suggest we become grazers instead of eating three large meals daily, consume small amounts throughout the day. This may not be possible during the school year, but mid morning and after school snacks are not a bad idea. Make the energy from those healthy breakfast recipes snack and desert recipes last by avoiding simple sugars and the yo-yo effect.

The Yo-Yo Effect.

Simple carbohydrates are found in refined foods, such as white flour or granulated sugar, as well as in fructose the sugar found in fruits and honey. They also provide energy. Eating too many simple carbohydrates, however, may lead to major problems in the body. They cause a rapid rise in blood-sugar levels, which stimulates special cells in the pancreas to secrete large amounts of insulin, which is needed to enable the body to use glucose effectively.

Without healthy breakfast recipes snack and desert recipes.. too much insulin is secreted which causes a rapid fall in blood glucose levels. This can result in the loss of pep and energy or even faintness. If you eat a candy bar to give yourself more pep, your blood sugar again skyrockets, your pancreas kicks out more insulin, your blood sugar falls, and, after a short while you crash again. This yo-yo effect is very common in kids today because of the amount of simple carbohydrates they consume in Junk food and soft drinks.

Fat is Needed for Good Health.

Good healthy breakfast recipes snack and desert recipes and fats are very important to our diet. They are necessary for the production of many hormones in our bodies, and to absorb fat soluble vitamins and build nerve tissue. Because fats contain twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates, or proteins diets high in fat may lead to slight problems. Today Americans get about 35 percent of their daily calories from fat. Most nutritionists believe this is too much and kids are not exempt from this fat frenzy.. Junk food is loaded With it.

A Diet Including Low Calorie and Vegetarian Recipes Has Many Benefits

If you are truly interested and committed then try switching over gradually. Don't try to quit cold turkey (no pun intended). Try eliminating one type of meat at a time. Then you will gradually be able to eliminate all the meat from your diet.

Over this time period introduce and increase the number of Vegetarian meals that you consume. You can find some incredible vegetarian cookbooks online and at your local bookstore that are filled with delicious recipes.

Just remember to start slow and take your time. To give you a little push here are some incredible benefits of a vegetarian diet as compared to an orthodox diet.

The Benefits of a Vegetarian Lifestyle

Vegetarian diets, when well chosen, are linked to a reduction in the incidence of chronic diseases. And they are more conducive to better health than your average, orthodox diet.

Chronic Diseases and Vegetarian Diets:

1. Obesity. Among vegetarians there is less obesity. Vegetarians consume more fiber-rich bulky foods so fewer calories are consumed.

2. High Blood Pressure. Vegetarian lifestyle is void of smoking and drinking alcohol. This in combination with regular exercise decreases blood pressure. Also, a vegetarian diet that is low in fat, saturated fats, high in fiber, fruits, and vegetables may also contribute to lowered blood pressure.

3. Heart Disease. Vegetarian diets call for fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and soybeans as a replacement for meat (which is much higher in saturated fats and much lower in fiber, antioxidants). This contributes to a healthy heart. High fiber also helps the digestive tract.

4. Cancer. Meats and other foods not consumed in a vegetarian diet can produce carcinogens which can lead to Cancer.

There are many other benefits to a vegetarian lifestyle:

1. It's humane as it saves animals from being slaughtered for food.

2. Saves money (as meat is expensive)

Less demanding on the environment

Vitamix Juicing: My Favorite Green Drink Recipe for Natural Energy

There is a revolution among us with regard to eating healthy, juicing, and just becoming more health conscious about the food choices we make for ourselves and our families. It is no coincidence that green drinks are becoming more and more popular. Where else can you get all those nutrients and raw energy without the negative side effects of processed sugar? Do you really eat your veggies like mom told you to when you were a child?

Here's one of my favorite recipes that you can drink in the morning when you first get out of bed for a shot of quick energy. You can make it today and drink all of it over the next couple of mornings if you want. If you can manage it, best results will come from organic produce due to the avoidance of pesticides found in non-organic foods. If non-organics is the best you can do that will be okay, but be sure to peel the fruit that has peels such as apples, to get the best quality possible.

Green Smoothie Recipe for Breakfast

Here are some ingredients you will need:

2 cups of green mix (example: ½ cup spinach, 1 cup broccoli, ½ cup Brussels sprouts

2-5 ice cubes

1 liter of water

½ oz protein powder (rice protein, vegetable protein, or whey protein)

3 Table Spoons of flax seeds

2 small apples

2 bananas

2 cups of berries

Simply chop everything up into pieces and insert ingredients into your Vitamix blender. This will make about 2 ½ Liters of Raw energy drink for your health. The best times to drink this are

1. Upon Awakening, and
2. Following Workout or Exercise Session

If you drink too much all the time you can end up taking in too many calories, so try to drink these calorie drinks during one of the above times. Of course, you can also drink it for lunch, if you take it as a meal replacement rather than adding it to your regular lunch. If that's the case, you might be overdoing the calories.

For many people, green drinks are the first time in their lives when they take in raw fruits and vegetables without flinching. If you are one of these people, congratulations and welcome to your new healthy and more energized lifestyle. Be sure to experiment with different combinations of green vegetables and fruits. You actually can add in any color you crave, but greens make a great foundation for a drink.

As a final tip, be sure you use a blender that can handle this type of action. Blendtec and Vitamix blenders are some of the most powerful blenders in the world and are the best for juicing your drinks.