Daily Treat for Your Blood Pressure

Dark chocolate can also help reduce atherosclerosis and blood clotting, aid blood flow, contribute to an overall reduction in heart attacks, and improve cholesterol levels, according to Maroon. And it’s all thanks to the powerful antioxidants found in the cocoa bean.

More Good Reasons to Eat Chocolate.
As if you need them . . . Maroon offers three more great reasons to indulge:

For a better mood. The taste isn’t the only reason it makes us smile. For better blood sugar. Chocolate enhances the effect of insulin and sugar utilization. For a fine complexion. Yup, fewer wrinkles and fine lines.

Source: RealAge.com

If You Want to Keep Your Heart Healthy....

Then you should eat foods that are high in phytosterols, a substance that lowers your cholesterol naturally. Here are the...

Top 5 seeds and nuts to lower cholesterol:

1.) Sunflower seeds
2.) Pistachios
3.) Pumpkin seeds
4.) Pine nuts
5.) Flaxseeds, whole

If It's White, Don't Bite!

"Bad" carbohydrates are generally white in color. Think: Sugar, white flour, white bread. If you avoid "bad" carbs you may reduce your risk of diabetes heart disease and weight gain.

"Good" carbs come from fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Eat "good" carbs to keep your cholesterol level healthy...your blood pressure and blood sugar stable...and excess pounds off. It is as simple as that!

I have learned this truth from my nutritionist when we have found out that I have developed a Type2 diabetes. This was due to a couple of medicines I am taking. I am grateful to have known these things; now I can share these to my mother in managing her diabetes.

Why Doctors Don't Take Vitamin E?

Once upon a time, lots of folks, including doctors rushed out to by Vitamin E supplements to protect their hearts. But it turns out that was a mistake. Because new research shows that Vitamin E won't reduce your risk of chronic disease, in fact, it may even make it worse. And you don't need to take Vitamin E supplements to prevent a deficiency. Simply eat E rich foods such as nuts, seeds and vegetables oils or take a multivitamin. That should provide you with plenty of vitamin E. The doctor agreed that vitamin E supplements won't reduce your risk of heart disease.

Source: Consumer Report on Health

Peanut Butter Outbreak is Growing!

In case you guys didn't know it yet, there is a salmonella outbreak again and the number of affected people are growing. It is now estimated about 49 both in here and Canada. If you guys love peanut butter, this is just a reminder to choose food product that doesn't contain peanuts especially those that were recalled by FDA.

Hundreds of peanut products have been recalled as officials investigate a nationwide salmonella outbreak. Although jarred peanut butter sold in grocery stores is not thought to be involved, other items containing peanut butter such as cookies, crackers, cereal, and ice cream may be. The links below can provide you with the latest on products recalls and the FDA's investigation, along with other facts you need to know about salmonella.

Many products containing PCA's peanut butter or peanut paste have been recalled. The lengthy list includes, but is not limited to, the following companies:

• General Mills: Lara Bar Peanut Butter Cookie flavor snack bars and Jam Frakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp flavor snack bars

• Clif Bar & Company: Clif Bar Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch, Clif Bar Crunchy Peanut Butter, Clif Bar Peanut Toffee Buzz, ZBaR Peanut Butter, Clif Builders Peanut Butter, Luna Nutz over Chocolate, Luna Peanut Butter Cookie, and all Clif Mojo Bars

• Kroger: Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold at City Market, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, and Smith's stores.

• Kellogg Company: Certain Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter sandwich crackers, select snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies, and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

The FDA's web site has a list of recalls related to the salmonella outbreak.

Hearty Beef Stew

I don't know about you, Guys, but I love stew so much. It is like a version of Menudo or Afritada in the Filipino cuisine. The only difference is that it has more sauce kinda like a soup; and this hearty beef stew will put some meat on your bones. The teriyaki sauce adds a nice zest to the flavor of the stew. The meat comes out moist and tender.

Ingredients:

1 pound cubed beef stew meat
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 potatoes, cubed
1/2 pound mushrooms, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Place beef stew meat into a slow cooker. In a small bowl, mix together flour, paprika, salt, and pepper; sprinkle over beef stew meat, stirring to coat. Stir in beef broth, teriyaki sauce, onion, carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic and bay leaf.
Cover, and cook on Low 6 hours, stirring occasionally.

Lean Cuisine Chicken Meals Recalled

If you are one of those people who loves Lean Cuisine Frozen Meals, you might consider checking the labels first before buying one. I am not a fan of froxen foods because for me, they contain ingrediets that are not very good to our body like preservatives. My husband buys some of them every once in a while especially when they are on sale. I better make sure that he knew which ones to avoid or he might end up getting sick or who know what harm it can do to our body.

Nov. 18, 2008 -- Nestle Prepared Foods Company is recalling 879,565 pounds of frozen Lean Cuisine chicken meals that may contain small pieces of hard blue plastic.Nestle issued the recall after getting seven consumer complaints, including one report of a minor gum injury that did not require medical attention, Nestle Prepared Foods Company spokeswoman Roz O'Hearn tells WebMD.

The following Lean Cuisine products are being recalled:
LEAN CUISINE PESTO CHICKEN WITH BOW TIE PASTA" brand frozen meals. Printed on each side of each package is a production code of "8280595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best Before MAY 2010."

LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN MEDITERRANEAN" brand frozen meals. Printed on the side of each package is a production code of "8231595912" or "8241595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best before SEP 2010"; a production code of "8263595912," "8269595911," or "8274595912," as well as a use-by date of "Best before OCT 2010"; or a production code of "8291595912" or "8301595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best before NOV 2010."

LEAN CUISINE CHICKEN TUSCAN" brand frozen meals. Printed on the side of each package is a production code of "8234595911" and a use-by date of "Best before SEP 2009"; a production code of "8253595911" or "8269595912" as well as a use-by date of "Best before OCT 2009"; or a production code of "8292595911" or "8296595911" as well as a use-by date of "Best before NOV 2009."

Each package also bears the USDA mark of inspection as well as the establishment number "EST P-9018." The frozen chicken meals were produced on Aug. 18, Aug. 21, Aug. 28, Sept. 9, Sept. 19, Sept. 25, Sept. 30, Oct. 6, Oct. 17-18, Oct. 22, and Oct. 27, 2008, and were distributed to retail establishments nationwide, according to the USDA.

Consumers with questions about the recall should call 800-227-6188.
Where did the plastic come from? "We determined that the plastic entered our facility in a single lot of an incoming raw ingredient," O'Hearn says. "We're trying to figure out how to prevent this from happening in the future. But we went into action very quickly on a very small number of complaints."

Tip of the Day

Olive oil -- the unsaturated fat that’s great for your heart -- is making headlines again. But this time it’s for helping something a little lower down: your stomach. Read More »

Isn't it great? Olive Oil gives us a lot of good health benefits for us; that is why I love using Olive Oil in almost everything O cook in my kitchen.

What You Served is What They will Eat!

I really believe that the foods you serve with your kids are the one he/they will learn and love eating. I am glad that my son eats whatever I put into our table. He loves Filipino foods and doesn't really care much on junk foods for that is how I trained him, which is eating more healthy foods and less junk. He still eats junk food foods from fast foods, but only when hubby is craving for burgers and fries, then we go to McDonalds or Pizza Hut.

6 Frightening Frozen Foods

For those watching their waistlines and their wallets, frozen versions of popular restaurant foods are tempting solutions. But think twice before replacing your favorite take-out with its frigid counterpart--the swaps aren't always so diet friendly. Here, a look at the frozen foods that don't do your body good.

Breakfast Sandwiches. Popping it into the microwave instead of picking it up from a fast food restaurant drive-through doesn't make a breakfast sandwich a healthy way to start your day. Be especially wary of the kinds that use French toast as bread. One Aunt Jemima brand Sausage and Egg on French Toast sandwich weighs in with 20 grams of fat, 8 of which are saturated. Translation? Not quite the breakfast of champions.

Mac 'n' Cheese. Whether it's homemade or from a grocery store, mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food. But this ooey, gooey goodness doesn't come without a price, especially if it's of the frozen variety. One 10-ounce portion of Stouffer's macaroni and cheese serves up 350 calories, 17 grams of fat, and a whopping 920 milligrams of sodium--double those numbers if you decide to eat the whole box.

Sundae Cones. A pre-packaged bar or cone might seem slightly less dangerous than a never ending carton of ice cream. After all, if you're limited to just one portion, how much damage can you really do? More than you might think. These all-inclusive cones are often loaded with fudge, caramel, and nuts, packing in more calories than two servings of some kinds of regular ice cream. One Nestlé Vanilla Caramel Drumstick contains 440 calories, 19 grams of fat, and 40 grams of sugar, your entire recommended daily allowance (RDA), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Pizza. Greasy, fatty pizza is already known to destroy diets, and those of the frozen variety don't help its reputation. Loaded with sodium and an abundance of fat-laden meets and cheeses, their crusts are often so thick that the dough alone adds hundreds of calories per serving. Most of the 410 calories in one Stouffer's French Bread Cheese Pepperoni Pizza come from fat (20 grams). With 810 milligrams of sodium, this pizza doesn't skimp in that department either.

TV Dinners. More than 30 years after they were first introduced, TV dinners are still popular, perhaps due to their nostalgia factor. But proceed with caution. These tasty and convenient microwaveable meals may be brimming with sodium and fat, especially the ones that come in supersized versions. If getting 90 percent of your RDA of sodium in one sitting sounds tempting, try pairing your favorite sitcom with a Swanson Hungry-Man Fried Chicken dinner. With 2,160 milligrams of sodium in just one serving, watch out for rising blood pressure.

Breakfast Pastries. They're toasty, warm, and delicious, but breakfast pastries aren't as nice and sweet as they seem. The 200 calories and 10 grams of fat in just one little Pillsbury Strawberry and Cream Cheese Toaster Strudel could wreak havoc on your waistline--and send you into sugar shock as well.

This article is an eye opening for me; my husband likes frozen foods every once in a while, so we have few stocks of them in the freezer. I hardly eat frozen foods becuase I don't like the tatste of it, plus I grew up eating fresh foods and made from the scratch foods. So eating frozen foods doesn't have any appeal to me at all. To all of you out there who are trying to lose weight and have kids, this can help you decide if you really need these kind of foods or not.

6 Dirtiest Foods in America

Take heed—these common foods could ruin your dinner by making you sick.

If you've ever been struck with diarrhea, vomiting, fever, or abdominal cramps after dining out (or in), chances are that you were just one of the millions of "dirty food" victims that this country sees every year.
Foodborne illness, or food poisoning, is the result of consuming food or beverages contaminated with parasites, viruses, or bacteria. Most of these infections are undiagnosed and unreported, although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that approximately 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur in the United States each year. In fact, it may result in as many as 5,000 deaths each year.
Although food poisoning is usually unexpected, it's no secret that some food items are definitely dirtier than others. Here, a look at some of the dirtiest foods that are most likely to make you sick, according to the CDC.
1. Raw Oysters.
These mollusks have been said to have aphrodisiacal properties, but that's assuming that they don't make you sick first. Large outbreaks of the norovirus (one of several viruses responsible for the stomach flu) have been linked to raw oysters, so you might want to think twice before you slurp.
2. Ground Beef.
In everything from hamburgers to tacos to chili, the average American consumes over 66 pounds of ground beef each year. Unfortunately, although any food of animal origin can harbor bacteria, when meat is ground, it's even more exposed, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Listeria, salmonella, E. coli, and staph, which are invisible to the eyes and nose, are just a few of the harmful bacteria that could be lurking in your meat.
3. Alfalfa Sprouts.
If you're on of the many Americans who piles on the sprouts at the salad bar, you may also be getting a heaping pile of food poisoning. Oregon and Washington recently recalled a large amount of alfalfa sprouts after the USDA confirmed that they were likely linked to 13 cases of salmonella typhimirium infection-at least two individuals were hospitalized.
4. Milk.
It does a body good-but if it hasn't been pasteurized (put through a process that kills harmful bacteria through heating), it could be dangerous. Milk and milk products contain a wealth of nutrients, but according to the CDC, they can also contain salmonella, E. coli, and listeria. More than 800 people in the United States have gotten sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk in the past 10 years.
5. Raw Eggs.
Eggs are one of the most nutritious foods on earth, but if your mother ever yelled at you for trying to eat the leftover cookie dough or cake batter, she had good reason. Raw or even undercooked eggs can carry dangerous salmonella bacteria, one of the most common causes of food poisoning, so the Hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing might not be the wisest decision.
6. Poultry.

If you're weary of beef but not quite ready to jump on the vegetarian bandwagon, chicken is likely your protein of choice. And why not? It's simple to prepare and easily integrated into a healthy diet. But of course it might be too good to be true-a study published in the December 2001 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology found that nearly 40 percent of the chicken samples taken yielded E. coli. Veggie burgers

One for the Porch, One for the Plate!

When you grab a pumpkin for your fall porch this year, grab one for your plate, too.

Why? Two really good reasons: Pumpkin makes an incredibly rich and flavorful base for all sorts of soups, stews, and desserts. And it’s absolutely packed with blood-pressure-friendly nutrients.

Halloween Help for Your HeartPumpkin flesh is crammed full of phenols -- a type of health-promoting antioxidant that’s found in many plant-based foods. But pumpkin phenols may have particularly body-kind qualities. In cell studies, phenols from pumpkin flesh put a damper on the same enzyme that some blood pressure drugs target to reduce vascular tension. In other words, the phenols in pumpkin may help keep blood vessels relaxed, which means better blood pressure and better heart health.

Save the SeedsWhen you scoop out your pumpkin, save the seeds so you can roast them. Pumpkin seeds are rich in alpha-linolenic acid -- a healthy fat that also helps protect blood vessels. No time to cook fresh pumpkin? No problem. Use canned pureed pumpkin. It’s precooked, tastes great, and is just as good for you.

BTW, cooking pumpkin seems to enhance its phenolic properties.

I love Pumpkin seeds and so as hubby and Jacob. We also love Pumpkin Pie; my son is addicted with Pumkin Pie as long it is cooked the old- fashioned way. I like it with cream chesse.