I have tried many versions of fried rice including pork fried rice. This recipe from Betty Crocker is a wonderful twist on a tried and true favorite. Tropical mango gives this fried rice the aroma and taste of…the Philippines!

Prep Time: 25 min
Total Time: 30 min
Makes: 5 servings

3/4 cup diced cooked pork
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 mango, peeled and diced (1 pound)
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (3 ounces)
1 tablespoon finely chopped gingerroot
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 cups cold cooked rice
2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 cup frozen green peas, thawed
2 medium green onions, sliced (2 tablespoons)
1/8 teaspoon pepper

1. Mix pork and cornstarch. Spray nonstick wok or 12-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat until cooking spray starts to bubble. Add pork, mango, water chestnuts, mushrooms, gingerroot and garlic; stir-fry 1 minute. Remove pork mixture from wok.

2. Spray wok or skillet with cooking spray; heat until cooking spray starts to bubble. Add rice; stir-fry about 1 minute or until rice is hot. Stir in soy sauce. Add pork mixture, peas, onions and pepper; stir-fry 1 minute.

Use any remaining mango in a fresh-fruit salad, and serve alongside the fried rice.

Don’t live in an area of fresh mangoes? Use 1 cup of diced mango slices available in jars instead.

This is great as a side dish served with a main dish of  gingered shrimp.

To see some really great recipes check out: Betty Crocker

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You eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. But in the back of your mind you sometimes wonder, “Could taking a food supplement make me healthier?”

Surveys show that more than half of American adults take food, or dietary, supplements to boost their diet. Sometimes people take them because they lack - or think they lack - certain vitamins and minerals. Other people want to improve some part of their health, like their immune system.Vitamins, minerals, and herbs are the more popular food supplements. They come as powder or liquid that you can take as a pill or mix into food or drinks.

For years, doctors and food experts have been saying that in general, you don’t need supplements if you eat a healthy, balanced diet. How do you know if your diet is healthy? Check the Food Guide Pyramid. It tells you which foods to eat each day and in what amounts to stay healthy. A healthy diet is low in fat and sugar and rich in plant foods, like vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.

Changing Lives, Changing Bodies

Sometimes, changes take place in our lives and bodies that can make it harder to eat right. For instance, a sad event, such as losing a loved one, could cause us to lose interest in food or eating right. Health and dental problems or some drugs can ruin our appetites or cause other eating problems.Some people, as they age, begin to avoid certain foods, like milk. That’s because the sugar in milk gets harder to digest. This could cause them to not get enough calcium, which the body needs for strong bones.
If you aren’t sure if you have a healthy diet, talk to your doctor or a food expert. He or she can help you figure out what’s missing in your diet. Maybe you should be taking calcium tablets or a multivitamin. Find out which supplements to avoid if you have an illness or take medicine. Some supplements can make certain health problems worse or interfere with your medicine.

If you want to try a supplement because you read or heard it could improve your health in some way, do some research first. Look on the Internet or in the library for medical studies to support the claims. If the supplement is for a certain problem, like arthritis, check with a health group that knows about the illness, like the Arthritis Foundation. Ask a doctor or pharmacist if the supplement is safe and how it’s used.

Beware of false claims. Supplements that claim to help you stay young, grow back hair, lose weight, or cure cancer could be false. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Watch for double standards. Even though herbs are often sold for having the same effect as certain drugs, they aren’t controlled the same way. Find out about the herbs you want to use. Are there side effects? Could taking large doses be dangerous? How long have the herbs been used for treating your condition(s)? Have medical studies been published on their effectiveness?
High doses of some supplements might be harmful. There are guidelines for the amounts of vitamins and minerals you should take to stay healthy, but not for herbs. Some herbs could be harmful in large amounts. So could very large doses of vitamins and minerals.

In the end, do your research well and as a final caution, always confer with your physician when in doubt…especially when you have a medical condition.

Technorati Tags: food Supplemets, Good Health, Herbs, Minerals, Vitamins

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Chicken-Fried Steak is always a great food treat but it is not the most healthiest meal in the world. It is usually loaded with grease, fat and huge amount of sodium.

Can you make chicken-fried steak that isn’t loaded with saturated fat and salt? Absolutely. You will skip the deep frying, but with rich country gravy as a consolation, you won’t miss it. This pan-fried, crispy steak has less than one-third of the fat and about 80 percent less sodium than a typical version.

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:

¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
¼ cup cornmeal
¼ cup whole-wheat flour
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided
1 teaspoon paprika
1 pound cube steak, cut into 4 portions
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon water
¼ cup half-and-half cream

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Place all-purpose flour on a large plate. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Whisk cornmeal, whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup cornstarch and paprika in another shallow dish. Season both sides of steak with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Dredge the steak in the flour, shaking off excess; dip in the egg whites, then dredge in the cornmeal mixture.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add 2 pieces of the steak; cook until browned on both sides, turning once, 3 to 5 minutes total. Transfer the steak to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and 2 pieces of steak. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, add broth to the pan and boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 cup, 3 to 5 minutes. Whisk water and the remaining 1 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in half-and-half; season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. Serve the steak topped with the gravy.

NUTRITION INFORMATION:
Per serving: 315 calories; 13 g fat (3 g sat, 7 g mono); 57 mg cholesterol; 14 g carbohydrate; 33 g protein; 1 g fiber; 312 mg sodium; 379 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Selenium (50% daily value), Potassium & Zinc (15% dv).

This is a great meal that is easy and quick to prepare for your hungry family. If you enjoy this recipe, there are many more at the following  website at: Eating Well

We thank Eating Well for this great family meal recipe.

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‘Tis the season to be jolly–but it’s also means that our weather will soon be getting cooler and that is the season for colds, which can make your holidays much less fun.

While there are things you can do to lessen your chances of getting sick, there are also many so-called remedies and preventive measures that just don’t work. Here’s some information to help you sort out fact and fiction–and boost your chances for a healthy holiday season.
The truth about . . .

GETTING CHILLED Despite what your mother may have told you, going outside without a hat will not increase your chances of catching cold. In studies by Britain’s Common Cold Unit during the 1940s, volunteers who were wet down and then exposed to cold air were no more likely to catch cold than control subjects in cozier conditions. Those results have been confirmed in many more studies since.

BEING IN CROWDS According to some experts, it can take up to several hundred hours of exposure to a cold virus to catch a cold–so you are more likely to catch cold from someone you spend a lot of time with, such as a family member, rather than through a chance encounter with strangers. Still, as cold virus particles can hang in the air for hours after someone coughs or sneezes, it is wise for the immunocompromised (including very young infants with immature immune systems) to avoid large gatherings or, if impossible, to wear surgical masks.

WASHING YOUR HANDS Most cold viruses are transmitted via hand-to-nose or hand-to-eye contact. For that reason, washing your hands frequently is the single most important thing you can do to prevent the spread of germs. The Centers for Disease Control recommends washing your hands with soap for 10 to 15 seconds (about the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday to You”), as it is both the soap and the scrubbing action that help dislodge bacteria. However, it is not necessary to use . . .

ANTIBACTERIAL PRODUCTS Contrary to popular belief, these products do not kill the viruses that cause cold. Moreover, some researchers believe that overuse of such products could actually lead to new strains of resistant bacteria. For home use, regular soap is as effective, less expensive, and often less drying to the skin than antibacterial products. And remember–the scrubbing action is just as important, if not more important, than the cleaning agent you use.

DISINFECTING SURFACES Disinfectants such as Lysol and bleach solutions can kill viruses lurking on doorknobs, counters, and other surfaces in the home, but even the most vigilant cleaning is highly unlikely to kill everything–so be sure to wash your hands, and try to avoid touching your nose and eyes.

VITAMIN C AND ZINC There is no scientific evidence that taking megadoses of Vitamin C prevents colds or appreciably affects the duration of colds. In fact, overdosing can cause problems, such as severe diarrhea. Studies of zinc are inconclusive, but again, the mineral could cause problems in some people, so check with your doctor before taking it.

BEING CONSIDERATE If you already have a cold, try to avoid those who don’t–especially for the first three days, when you are most contagious. When you sneeze or cough, do so into a tissue, and then throw it away. And, finally–keep washing those hands!

Don’t allow a common cold to side-line you from the holidays. Following simple rules will keep your holiday season a jolly one.

Technorati Tags: Avoiding colds, Common Cold, Prevention of colds

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Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

We spend approximately one-third of our lives asleep, but sometimes sleep can be elusive.Almost everyone has experienced transient insomnia–the occasional inability to fall asleep, or waking up feeling unrefreshed. Thankfully, it’s usually short-lived, lasting only a few days.

Chronic insomnia, however, lasts much longer. A common condition, it may be brought on by medical or psychiatric causes, such as colds, pain, or depression. But 10 percent of all insomnia occurs in the absence of any medical or psychiatric disorder and is called primary insomnia.Primary insomnia seems to have a life of its own and often begins after someone has experienced a significant stressful event that may disrupt his or her sleeping pattern. To make up for lost sleep during this stressful period, the individual may develop poor sleep habits that perpetuate the insomnia long after the problem has passed.

Sticking to the following good sleep habits help most people sleep well:

Keep a regular schedule. Regular times for getting up, eating meals, taking medicines, doing chores, or other activities help to keep your inner clock running smoothly.

Establish a relaxing pre-sleep ritual. Activities such as taking a warm bath, reading for ten minutes, or having a light snack let your body know that bedtime is near.

Go to bed only when sleepy and get out of bed if you’re not sleeping. By spending long periods awake in bed, your body learns that it’s OK to be awake in bed.

Exercise regularly. It’s best to exercise in the late afternoon about six hours before bedtime. Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and smoking around bedtime. In fact, don’t drink caffeinated beverages within six hours of bedtime.

In general, don’t nap. If you must, it’s best to take naps during the mid-afternoon.

If establishing these habits is either difficult for you or doesn’t seem to be working, let your doctor know. Further assessment and treatment may be required.

A good night’s sleep is one of the cornerstones to good health. Sleep well.

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Technorati Tags: Chronic Insomnia, Good Sleep Habits, Primary Insomnia, Transit Insomnia

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